InitiationandItsResults 10423221

I N I TI A TI O N
A N D I T S RE S UL T S
A SE ! UEL TO
TH E WA Y O F I N I T I A TI O N
RU D O L F E R, P h D
l
. .
Translated From The
CLI FFO RD BA!
CH IC A G O , I LLI NOIS
TH E O C C U LT PU BLI SH I NG C O MPA NY
19 10
FO R EWO R D
The w i despread i n terest take n i n the first

volume of th is series !e n titled TH E WAY OF
“
a n d its success have en co u r

,
aged me to place before E n glish readers i n ,
th e prese n t volume a translation of th e arti

,
c les writte n by Dr S teiner as a sequel to the

.
above series and originally published i n L u c i

,
fe r G n os i s !Nos
. 2 0 a theosophical maga
z ine published by M Altma nn L eipzig a n d
,
.
, ,
edited by Dr Rudolf S tei n er The same

. .
m agazi n e is now bri n gi n g out a series of ar

ti cl es e n titl ed The Theory of C o g n itio n ac
“
,
”
cording to Occultism which when fi n ished
, , ,
will c o n clude these ve ry i m porta n t co m m u

ni c at i on s from a source of ge n ui n e occult wis
dom When completed I propose to publish

.
,
th em as a third volume of this series .
7
8 A
I N I TI TI ON AN D ITS RES ULTS
To save disappoi n tme n t to some readers into

whose ha n ds this book m ay cha n ce to fall let ,
me fra n kly state at the outset that n either this

nor its co m panio n volu m es are i n te n ded for
people who de n y the possibility of attai n i n g
knowledge by other mea n s than their physical
orga n s of sense ; the belief in or at least the
,
hypothetical accepta n ce of the reali ty of th e

unseen world and of forces n ot perceptible
by our physical senses is therei n take n fo r
granted For those unable to accept these
.
prem ises there exists a vast amou n t of litera

ture which if approached with a n u np rej u
,
diced m i n d and carefully studied will ,
co n vi n ce them of all that is here postulated .
These volumes m ight be called a dva n c e d

text books of occultism a n d those to whom
-
,
the subject is repelle n t had better n ot read

them because they are writte n by a n occultist
,
o f a v ery high order for those really inter

'
ested i n the subject a n d desirous of advancing

,
in their self developme n t to a poi n t hitherto

-
A
I N I TI TI ON AN D I TS RE S ULTS 9
u n attainable by the m si n ce it has n ot until

,
n ow bee n dee m ed expedie n t openly to publish

such far reachi n g revelatio n s of the occult
-
.
The book is i n te n ded for those only who will

use every p ower gai n ed for the helpi n g of
thei r fellow pilgrims a n d who place self sac
-
,
-
ri fi ce a n d u n selfish devotio n to the best inter
ests of ma n ki n d above all other virtues .
O n the other ha n d there is a large n umber

,
of people deeply i n terested i n the subject

, ,
who were under the i m pressio n that there is

only the o n e occultis m whose ho m e is in the
East and who n ow eagerly welco m e a teach
,
i n g, sp ru n g from a Wes te r n source which ,
shows the m that they n eed n ot go beyond Eu

rope i n their search either for ge n ui n e oc cult
k n owledge or for teachers co m pete n t to i n
,
struct those willi n g to fulfill the co n ditio n s

n ecessa ry for the safe treadi n g of the narrow
Path leadi n g up to the feet of the One In i
ti ato r .
There are few leaders of thought at the

10 A
I N I TI TI ON A N D I TS RE S ULTS
able to gather arou n d hi m from 400 to 500

cultured people who will eagerly travel an y
dista n ce and stay for two o r th ree weeks w he r
ever he may choose to lecture During his .
rece n t courses of addresses on the Apocalypse ,

“
the Gospel accordi n g to S t ! oh n From .
,
”
Buddha to Christ o n C osmogony etc etc
‘
, ,
.
,
.
,
held i n Berlin a n d B ale i n Ch ri sti a n ia a n d

,
—
Budapest in Mu n ich a n d Rome to me n tio n
,
only a few of the cities visited b y th is i n d e fat

i g ab l e worker for the good of hu m a n ity ,
students were gathered together fro m all parts

of Europe ; fro m H ammerfest in the No rth
a n d Palermo i n the S outh from Eastern S i
,
beria and from Fra n ce and S pai n

,
.
That we are living at present in a wonder

fu l time of tra n sitio n when ,
“
The old order changeth yi elding place to
,
”
new,
INI TIATION AND ITS RES ULTS 11
may be gathered from the fact that a very

large n umber o f those most eager to welco m e
th ese wo n derful teachi n gs are recruited from
highly cultured classes whose predecessors of

,
but two decades ago would have scoffed at th e

whole subjec t .
I n co n clusio n I should like to d raw a tten

,
tio n to the close a n d wo n de rful relatio n which

the careful stude n t m ay trace be twee n the ex
”
e rc ises a n d
“
trials set forth i n TH E WAY OF
“
I N ITIATION a n d the mea n s of vivi fi cation of

the astral orga n s !chakras ) described i n this
volume After the success of the first volu me
.
,
we are satisfied that there is a widespread de

mand i n English speaki n g cou n tries for the
-
teachi ngs of Theosophy as e n unci ated by D r .
S tei ner and we shall t ry gradually to make

,
accessible to E n glish readers all the m ore im

porta n t works of this truly great Mystic and
Occultist .
For those who are fully satisfi ed with the

exoteric teachings of the day this volume is
12 I N I TI ATION A N D I TS RE S ULTS
n ot i n te n ded but it is earn estly hoped that it

,
may bri n g L ight a n d Pea c e to serious seekers

after truth.
M A ! GY SI .
By t he Sa m e A u t ho r
I n i t ia t i o n an d it s Re s u l t s
A Se q uel to “
Th e Way o f In iti at i o n
By
R UD OLF STEI N E R, Ph D . .
Translated fro m t he Germ an by C li fford Bax
C O N T E N TS
FOR E W O RD
The A stral Cen t re s ! C h ak ras
)
The C onstitu tion o f t he E t heri c Body
D ream Li fe
The th re e S ta t e s of C on sc iousn ess
The Di i i
ssoc at o n of Hum an Perso n al ity
I n itiation
The F i rst Gu ardia n oi
'
t he Thresho l d
The Seco n d Guardian of t he Threshol d
Life an d D ea t h
P RI C E 3I oo PO STPA I D
I
TH E A S T RA L C ENT RE S
!C HAK RA S )
It is o n e of the esse n tial pri n ciples of gen
ui uc occultis m that he w ho devotes himself
to a study of it should o n ly do so with a co m
p l e t e u n de rs tandi n g ; should neither under
take n or p ractise anything of which he does
not realize the results A n occult teacher giv
.
ing a perso n either instructio n or counsel will

i nvariably begi n with a n explanatio n of those
changes i n body i n soul and i n spirit which
, , ,
will occur to hi m who seeks for the higher

kn owledge .
We shall co n sider here so m e of these effec ts

upo n the soul of the occult stude n t for o n ly
,
he who is cognizant of what is now to be said

ca n undertake with a full u n de rstandi n g the
p ractices which will lead to a knowledge of
15
16 I N I TI ATI ON A N D I TS RES ULTS
the superphysical worlds I n deed o ne may .

,
say th at it is o n ly suc h who are ge n ui n e o c

cult stude n ts B y true occultis m all exp e ri
.
m en ti ng i n the dark is very stro n gly discou r

aged He who will n ot u n dergo wi th ope n
.
eyes the period of schooli n g may beco me a ,
mediu m but all such e fforts ca nn ot bri n g h im

,
to clai rvoya n ce as it is u n derstood by the oc

cultist .
To those who i n the right way have prae , ,
ticed the meth o d s !co n cer n i n g the acquisitio n

of superphysical k n owledge ) which were i n
d i c ate d i n my book e n titled Th e Wa y o f I u i ,
’
certai n cha n ges occur i n what is

'
l
t za t zo n ,
“ ”
called the astral body !the orga n is m of the
soul ) This orga n is m is o n ly perceptible to
.
the clairvoya n t O n e m ay co m pare it to a .
1 TheWay of I n i tia tion or H ow to , A tta in Kno wl ed g e o f

the H ig her Worl ds B y Rudo l f S t e in er
.
, Ph D. . Wit h a fo re
wo r d b y An n ie B e sa n t, an d s o me p
B io g ra h ica l No tes o f t he
A u th o r b y E d o u a r d S chu r é . Thi r d imp ress ion . 2 10 pp . Cl oth .
Cro wn 8vo . net .

A
I NI TI TI ON AN D I TS RE S ULTS 17
m o re o r less luminous cloud which i s dis ce rn ed

i n the midst of the physical body and in thi s ,
astral body the i m p ulses desires pass ions , and

, ,
idea s become vi s i ble S ensual ap p eti tes for

.
,
example are manifested as dark red outpour

,
-
i n gs of a parti cular shape ; a pure and noble

th ought is exp re s sed i n an outpouri ng of red
dish violet colou r ; th e clear cut con c eption of
- -
a logical th i nker will appear as a yellow figure

with quite sharp outli n es ; while th e confused
thought of a cloudy brain is man i fested as a
figure with v ague outlines The thoughts of
.
people with v i ews that are one s i ded and firmly

-
fixed will appear sharp i n th ei r outlines , but

immobile ; while th ose of people who remai n
acc essible to other p oints of view are s een to be
in motio n with va ryi n g outlines
,
.
The further the stude n t now advances i n his

psychic develo p ment the more w i ll h i s astral
,
bo dy becom e regularly orga n ised ; i n th e case

'
of a person wh ose psych i c life i s u ndeveloped ,
it remai n s ill organised a n d confu s ed Yet i n

-
.
such a n u n orga n ised astral body the clairvoya n t
ca n perceive a form which stands out clearly
from its e nviro n ment It extends from the
.
i n terior of the head to the middle of the physi

cal body I t appears as i n a certai n se n se an
.
, ,
i n depe n de n t body possessed of special organs .
These orga n s which are now to be co n sidered

, ,
are see n to exist i n the following parts of the

physical body : the first between the e yes ; the
seco n d at the laryn x ; the th ird in the regio n
of the heart ; the fourth i n what i s called the
pit of the stomach ; while the fifth a n d sixth
are situated i n the abdome n S uc h forms are .
“
tech n ically known as wheels !chakras ) or
“ ”
lotus fl owe rs They are so called on accoun t
-
.
of their like n ess to wheels or flowers but of ’
course it should be clearly u n derstood that such

a n expressio n is not to be applied more literally
tha n when one calls the lobes of the lu n gs the
“ ”
wi n gs .
! ust as eve rybody knows that here
“ ”
o n e is n ot really deali n g with wi n gs so must ,
it be remembered that in respect of the

I N I TI ATION A N D I TS RE S ULTS 19
“
w he el sone is merely speak i ng figurativel y .
“ ”
These lotus d owers are at present i n th e
-
,
u n developed p erso n of dark colours and with

,
—
out mov ement i nert I n th e c la i rvoyant .
,
however they are see n to be in moti on and of

,
luminous colour I n the med i um s omethi ng

.
similar happens albe i t in a di fferent way ; but

,
that part of the subject cannot now be pursued

any furth er As soon as the occult student b e
.
gins his practic es , the lotus d owers first b ecome -
lu cent ; later o n they beg i n to revo lve I t i s .
when this occurs that the facu l ty of cl ai rvoy

“ ”
an c e begins For these flowers are th e sense
.
organs of th e soul and their revoluti ons make

,
ma n ifest the fact th at one is able to perc eive in

the sup e rphysical world No one c an behold .
any superphysi c al thi n g until he ha s i n th is
way develo ped h i s astral senses .
The se nse organ which is situated in th e

-
,
vici n i ty of the larynx allows one to p erceive

,
cl a i rvoyantly th e thoughts of anoth er p ers on ,
and al so br i ngs a deeper i nsight i nto th e true

20 I N I TI ATION AN D I TS RE S ULTS
laws of n atural phe n omena The organ s it .
u ate d near the heart per m its of a clai rvoyant
knowledge co n cern i n g the se n ti m ents of an

other person He who has developed it can
.
also observe certai n of the deeper powers in

a n imals a n d pla n ts By m ea n s of the organ
.
that lies i n the pit of the stomach one acqu i res

knowledge of the capacities a n d talents of a
perso n : by this too o n e is enabled to see what
, ,
parts i n the household of n ature are played by

animals plants sto n es metals a tmospheric
, , , ,
phenomena a n d so o n
,
.
The orga n situated at the l arynx has sixteen

” “ ”
petal s or spokes ; that whi ch is i n the
regio n of the heart has twelve ; that which is i n
the pit of the stomach has ten Now certain .
activ ities of the soul are co nn ected with the

dev elopme n t of these se n se orga n s a n d he who
-
,
p ractises them i n a particular way contribute s

something to the development of the astral
organs concerned Eight of the sixtee n petals

.
“ ”
of the lotus have been developed already
22 I N I TI ATION AND I TS RE S ULTS
of th e soul which o n e usually exer c ises i n a
careless ma nn er and without attentio n There .
are eight such functio n s The first depends o n

.
the man n er in which o n e receives ideas Peo .
ple usually allow the m selves to be l ed i n this

respect by chance alo n e They hear th is a n d
.
th at they see one thing a n d a n other upon

, ,
which they base their ideas While this is the .
case the sixteen petals of the lotus remai n quite

torpid O n ly whe n o n e begi n s i n this m atter
.
to ta ke o n e s educatio n into o n e s own ha n ds do

’ ’
they really begi n to be effective All co n cep .
tio n s must be guarded with this e n d i n view .
Every idea should have some sign ificance O n e .
ought to see i n it a certai n message a fragment ,
of knowledge co n cern i n g the th ings of the

outer world and o ne m ust not be satisfied with
,
conceptions that have n o such sign ifica n ce .
One s hould so govern o n e s mental life that it

’
becomes a mirror of the outer world a n d ,

’
should direct one s energi es to the exp ulsio n of
i ncorrect ideas .
I N I TI ATION AN D I TS RE S ULTS 23
The seco n d of these fu n ctio n s is concerned ,
i n a si m ilar way with the co n trol of the reso

,
l utions O n e should o n ly make resolutions

.
a fter a well fou n ded full co n sideration of even

-
,
the most i n sign ifica n t points All thoughtles s .
d eeds all m ea n i n gless actio n s should b e put

, ,
far away from the soul For everything one .
m ust have well co n sidered grou n ds a n d one

-
,
ought n ever to do a thi n g for which th ere is no

real n eed .
The third functio n relates to speech The .
occult stude n t should o n ly utter what is sensi

ble a n d purposeful All talking for the sake
.
of talki n g draws hi m away from his path He .
m ust avoid the usual method of conv ersati on ,
i n which all m a nn er of things unselected and ,
heteroge n eous are spoke n of together In ac

,
.
complishi n g thi s however he must not p re

, ,
cl u d e himself fro m intercourse with his fe l
lows Precisely i n such i n tercou rse o ught his

.
co n versation to grow i n significance He an .
sw e rs everybody but he does so thoughtfully

,
24 A
I NI TI TION AN D I TS RE S ULTS
and after careful co n sideratio n of the questio n .
He n ever speaks without grou n ds for what he

says . He seeks to use neither too m any nor too
few words .
The fourth fu n ction is the regulatio n of out

ward actio n The stude n t seeks to direct his
.
actions i n such a way that it fits i n wi th the

actio n s of his fellow men and with the p ecu
-
l i ari ti es of his e nviro n me n t He rejec ts all ac

.
t io n s that are disturbing to others or that are
antagonistic to those which are customary

around hi m He tries so to act that his deeds
.
may combi n e harmoniously wi th his e nviron

ment with his positio n i n life and so forth
, ,
.
Where he is caused to act by some external

suggestio n he conside rs carefully how he can
best respond Where he is his own master he
.
,
co n siders th e effects of his m etho ds of action

with the utmost care .
The fifth activ ity here to be noti c ed lie s i n

the management of the enti re life The occult .
stu dent endeavou rs to l ive i n conform ity w i th

I NI TI ATION AN D ITS RE S ULTS
b o thNature and S pirit Never over has ty he .

-
,
is also n ever idle I n dole n ce and superfluous

.
activi ty lie equally far away from him He .
loo ks upo n life as a means for work and he

lives accordingly He arranges habits an d
.
,
fosters heal th so that a harmonious life is the

outcome .
The sixth is co n cern ed with human en

de avo u r The student tests his capacities a n d
.
his knowledge a n d co n ducts himself i n the

light of such self knowledge He tries to per
-
.
form no thi n g that is beyo n d his powers ; but

also to omit no thi n g for which they inwardly
seem adequate On the other hand he sets
.
,
before himself aims that coi n cide wi th the

ideal wi th the high du ty of a human being
,
.
He does n ot merely regard himself half

thoughtlessly as a wheel i n the vast machine ry
of ma n kind but endeavours to comprehend i ts
,
problems to look out beyo n d the trivial and

,
the daily He thus endeavours to fulfil h is

.
obligation s ever better and more perfe c tl y .

26 I N I TI ATI ON AND I TS RE S ULTS
The seventh change i n the life of his soul
deals with the e ffort to learn as much from life
as possible Nothing passes before the student
.
wi thout givi n g him occasio n to accu mulate ex

p e r i e nc e which is of value to him for life I f .
he has done a nything wrongly or imperfectly ,
it o ffers a n opportuni ty later on to ma k e it

c orrespo n di n gly either right or perfect I f h e .
sees others act he watches them with a similar

,
in tent He tries to collect from experie n ce a

.
rich treasure a n d ever to consult it atte n tively ;

,
nor i ndeed will he do a nythi n g wi thout hav

, ,
i ng looked back ove r experie n ces th at can give

him help in his decisio n s and actions .
F i nally the eighth is this : the student mu st

,
from time to time look inward sink back i nto ,
him s elf take carefu l counsel with himself

, ,
bui l d up and test the foundations of his life ,
run over h is store of knowledge po n der up on ,
his duties consider the contents and aim of life ,

,
and so forth All these matters have al ready

.
been mentioned in The Way of I n itia ti o n !see

I N I TI ATI ON A N D I TS RE S ULTS 27
page here they are merely recapi tulate d

in co nn ection with the developme n t of the six
teen petalled lotus By means of these exe r
-
.
cises it will become ever more and more per

fec t for upo n such practices depends the de
,
vel o p m en t of clairvoyance For i nsta n ce the

.
,
more what a perso n thinks and utters har

monises with th e ac tual occu rrences of the
outer world the more quickly will he develop
,
this faculty He who thinks or Speaks any

.
thing that is u n true kills something i n the bud

of the sixteen petalled lotu s Truthful n ess
-
.
,
Uprightn ess and Ho n esty are i n this co nn ec

,
tion formative but Falsehood S imulatio n a n d

, , ,
Disho n es ty are destructive forces The s tudent .
must recogn ize th at n ot merely good i n ten

”
tions are n eeded but also actual deeds I f I
,
.
think o r say anythi n g which does not har

m o ni ze with the t ruth I kill som ethi n g in my
,
astral organs even although I believed myself

,
to speak or think from intentions ever so good .
It is here as with the ch ild who n eeds must

28 I N I TIATION AN D I TS RE SULTS
burn itself if it falls i n to the fire even although
,
this may have occurred from ign ora n ce The .
regulatio n of the above mentioned activities of

-
th e soul i n the man n er described allows the ,
si xteen petal l ed lotus to ray forth in splendid

-
h ues a n d imparts to it a defin i te movement .
Yet it must he remarked that the sign s of clair

voyant facul ty can no t appear before a certai n
stage of this development is reached S o lo n g .
as it is a trouble to lead th i s kind of life the

facul ty remains unma n ifested S o lo n g as o ne
.
has to giv e special thought to the matters ai

ready des c ribed one is yet u n ripe Only when
,
.
one has c arried them so far that one lives quite

hab i tually in the specified manner can th e pre
limina ry traces of clai rvoyance appear These .
matters must therefore n o longer seem trouble

some but must become the hab i tual way of
,
life There is n o need to watch oneself conti n

.
u al l y nor to force oneself on to such a life

,
.
Eve rything must become habitual There are .
certai n instructio n s by the fulfil m ent of w hich

30 I NI TI ATION A ND I TS RE S ULTS
schoo l For the e ffect upo n the astral bo d y
.
occurs in every case even if it be but slowly

,
.
To the occult pupil the observance of these

principles is i n dispensable If he should t ry
.
to train himself i n occultis m without observ in g

th em he could o n ly e n ter the higher world
,
with defective mental eyes ; and in place of

knowing the truth h e would the n b e merely
subject to deception a n d illusion In a certain .
direction he might become clai rvoyant ; but

fundamentally nothing but a blindne s s com
p l e te r tha n of old would beset him For h i th .
erto he stood at least firmly i n the midst of the

s ense world and had in it a certai n support ;
-
but now he see beyond that world and will fall

into erro r concerning it before he is able to
stand securely in a higher sphere As a rule .
,
indeed he cannot distinguish error from truth

, ,
and he loses all d i rection in life For this very .
reason i s patience in such matters essenti al I t .
must always be remembered that the occult

teach er may not proc eed very far wi th his i n
A
I N I TI TI ON AN D I TS RE S ULTS 31
st ru cti o nsunless an earn est desire for a re g u

lated developme n t of the lotu s flow ers is al -
ready p resent Only mere carica tures of these

.
flowers cou l d be evolved if they were b rought

to blossom before th ey had acqui red in a steady ,
m an n er thei r app ropriate form For the

,
.
special i n structio n s of the teacher bring about

the blossomi n g of the lotuses but form is i m ,
parted to them by the ma nner of lif e al ready

outlined .
The i rregular development of a lo tus flowe r -
has for its result not o n ly illusion a n d fantastic

, ,
conceptions where a certain ki n d of cl ai rvoy

ance has occurred but also errors a n d lack of
,
balance i n life itself Th rough such develop

.
me n t o n e may well become timid envious c on , ,
cei te d,
self willed sti ff necked and so o n
-
,
-
, ,
while hith erto o n e may h ave possessed n one

of these characteristics It has already been.
said that eight petals of the lotus were devel

oped lo n g ago in a very remote past and that
, ,
these in the course of occult education u n fold

32 IN I TIATION AN D I TS RES ULTS
agai n of themselves I n the instructi on of the
.
s tude n t all care must now be given to the o ther

,
e ight. By erroneous teachi n g the fo rmer m ay

easily appear alone and the latter remain u n
,
tended and i n ert This would be the case par

.
ti c ul a rl y whe n too little logical reasonable ,
thinki n g is introduced i n to the i n struction It .
is of supreme importance that the student

should be a se n sible a n d clear thi n ki n g pe rson
-
,
a n d of equal i m porta n ce that he should p rac

tise the greatest clari ty of speech People who .
begin to have some presentime n t of su p er

physical thi n gs are apt to become talkative
about such things In that way th ey retard
.
thei r development The less one talks about

.
th ese matters the better O n ly he who has come

.
to a certai n stage of clearness ought to Speak

of them .
At the commenceme n t of the instructio n s

o c cult students are asto n ished as a rul e to find
, ,
how little curiosi ty the teacher exh ibits con

c erning thei r experiences It we re best of all
.
INITIATION AND I TS RESULTS 33
for them if th ey were to remain enti rely un

communicative about these experiences , and
should say no thing furth er th an h ow su cces s
ful or how unsuccessful they had been in the
p erfo r mance of th ei r exercises or i n the o b se rv
ance of thei r i n structions The occult teacher
.
has qu i te other means of estimating thei r prog

ress than thei r own communi c ations Th e .
eight petals now under consideration always

becom e a little hardened th rough such com
m u n i c atio n where th ey ought really to grow
soft and supple An illustration shall be g i ven
.
to explai n this not tak en from th e su p e rp hy si

,
cal world but for the sake of c learness from

, , ,
ordinary life S uppos e that I h ear a pie c e of

.
news and thereupon fo rm at once an opinion .
In a little while I receive some furth er news

which do es not ha rmonize with the prev i ous
informati on I am constrained thereby to re
.
verse my ori ginal judgment The re s ult o f th is

.
is an u n favorable i nflu enc e upon my sixteen

petalled lotus It would have b een quite other
.
34 I NITIATION A N D I TS RE S ULTS
wise if i n the first place I had suspended my
, ,
judgm ent ; if co n cerning the whole a ffai r I h ad

remained inwardly in thought a n d outwardly
,
i n words enti rely silent unti l I had acqu i red

,
quite reliable grounds for the formati on of my

judgme n t C aution in the formatio n and the
.
p rono unceme n t of opinions becomes by de ,
grees the special characteristic of the occult

,
stude n t Thereby he increases h i s sen s ibility

.
to impressions and experiences which h e al ,
lows to pass over him sile n tly in order to collect

the largest possible n umber of facts from whi ch
to form his opi n io n s There exist in the lotus
.
fl ow e r bluish red a n d rose red shades of colour

- -
which m a n ifest themselves under the influen c e

of such circumspection while i n the oppos i te
,
case ora n ge and dark red shades would appear .
The twelve petalled lotus which lies in the

-
region of the heart is formed i n a similar way .
Half its petals likewise were already existent

, ,
and active in a remote stage of human evol u

tion The se six petals do not require to be
.
I NI TIA TION A N D I TS RE S U L TS 35
especially evolved in the occult sch ool : they

appear spontaneously and begin to revolve
when we set to work on the other six In th e .
cultivati on of thes e as in the previous case

, ,
o n e has to control and di rect c ertai n activ i ties

of the mind in a special way .
It must be clearly understood that th e p e r

ce p ti ons of each astral or soul organ bear a -
peculiar cha racter The twelve petalled lotus

.
-
possesses perception of quite a di fferent ki nd

from that of the sixteen petals Th el atter pe r
’
ceives forms The thoughts of a person and

.
the laws under which a natural phenomeno n
takes place appear to the s i xte en petalled lotus -
—
as forms not however rigid motionless
, , ,
forms but active and filled with life The

,
.
clairvoyant in whom this se n se is well evolved

, ,
can discern a fo rm wherewith every thought ,
every n atu ral law finds expression A thought

,
.
of vengea n ce for example , manifests as an

,
arrowlike p ronged form while a thought of

, ,
goodwill frequently takes the shape of an o p en

ing flower Clear cut mea n ingful though ts
.
-
,
are formed regularl y and symmetrically while ,
hazy co n ceptions take on hazy outline s B y .
means of the twelv e p etalled flower quite d if

-
fe ren t p e rcepti ons are acqu i red A p p ro xi .
mately o n e can i ndicate the nature of these per

ce p ti o ns by likening them to th e sense of cold
and heat A clai rvoyant equipped with this

.
facul ty feels a mental warmth or chilli n ess ray

ing out from the forms discerned by mean s of
th e sixteen petalled flower
-
If a clai rvoyant
.
had evolved the sixteen petalled lotu s but not

-
,
the lotus of twelve petals he would only oh ,
serve a thou g ht of goodw i ll as th e shape al

ready descri b ed while another i n whom bo th
,
senses were developed would also discern that

o u t ray i ng of the thought wh ic h one can only
call a mental warmth I t may he remarked in

.
pass i ng that i n th e occult school one sense is

n ever evolved wi thout th e o ther s o that wh at ,
has just been s a i d s hould only b e regarded as

h avi ng b een stated for the sake of clari ty By .
38 I N I TI ATION AN D I TS RE SULTS
e xp res s ed h e s hould silently set it straight
,
within h is own mind He ought not for the

.
,
p urpos e o f perfecting his own developme n t to ,
w i thdraw h imself unchar i tab ly from what i s

p erhap s an illogical mental environment .
Neither should he allow himself to feel im

p e l l e d to correct the illog i cal th i nki n g arou n d
him Rather should he qu i etly in his own
.
,
inner self constrain this whirlpool of thoughts

,
to a logical a n d reaso n able course And above .
all things ought he to strive after this regula

ti on in the regio n of his own th oughts .
A second requirement i s that h e should con

trol his actions in a sim i lar way All insta .
b i l i ty or disharmony of acti on p roduces a wi th

ering e ffect upon the lotus d owe r which is -
here in consideration I f the student has done

.
anyth i ng he should manage the succeeding act

so that it forms a logical sequen c e to the first ,
for he who a c ts d i fferently from day to day will

n ever evolve this facul ty or sens e .
The th i rd requirement is th e cultivatio n of

INITIATION A N D I TS RE S ULTS 39
p e rs everan ce The occult student neve r al lows

.
himself to b e drawn by this or that influence

as i de from his goal so long as he co n tinues to
believ e that it is the right one Obstacle s are .
for him like challe nges to ov ercome them and

n ever afford reasons for loitering on the way .
Th e fourth requireme n t is tolerance as t e

gards all persons and circumstances The stu .
den t should seek to avoid all sup erfluous cri ti

c i sm of im p erfections and vices and should ,
ra ther e n deavor to comprehend eve ryth ing that

comes under his n otice Even as the sun does
.
not refuse its light to the evil and the vicious ,
so he too should not refuse them an intelligent

, ,
sym pathy I f the stude n t m eets with some

.
trouble he should not waste his force in c ri ti

,
c i sm
,
but bow to necessity a n d seek how he
may try to transmute the misfortu n e into good .
He does not look at another s opinions fro m ’
hi s own stand point alo ne but seeks to put h i m

,
self i n to his companio n s positio n

’
.
’
The fifth requi reme n t is impartiality in one s
40 INI TIATION AND ITS RESULTS
relation to th e a ff airs of life In thi s connec .
“ ” ”
tio n we speak of trust and faith The o c .
c ult stude n t goes out to every perso n and every

c reature with this faith and through it he acts
, .
He n ever says to himself whe n anything is told ,

“
to him I do n ot believe that sin ce it is op
, ,
”
posed to my p resent opinions Far rather is .
he ready at any mome n t to test a n d rearra n ge

his Opinions and ideas He always remains .
impressio n able to everythi n g that confronts

him L ikewise does he trust i n th e effi ciency
.
of what he undertakes Timidi ty and scep ti

.
ci sm are banished from his bei n g I f he has .
any purpose in View he has also faith in its

,
p ower A hundred failures cannot rob him of

.
“
this confidence I t is indeed that fa i th wh ich
.
”
c an move mou n tain s .
The sixth requirement is the cult ivation of a

ce rtai n equanimity The student strive s to
.
temper his moods wh eth e r they come laden

,
with sorrow or with joy He must avoid the .
extremes of rising u p to the sky in rapture o r

INITI ATION AND ITS RE SULTS 41
s inking down to th e ea rth in d esp ai r, b ut

should constan tly c ontrol his mind and kee p it
evenly b alanc e d . S o rrow and peri l joy and ,
p rosp e ri ty alike fin d him ready armed .
The reader of theo s o p hical literature will

find the qualiti es here described under th e ,
“ ”
name of the six attributes which m us t be
striven after by him who would attain to initia
tio n H e re their c o n nectio n with the astral
.
se n se which is called the twelve petalled lotus

,
-
,
is to be ex p lained The teacher can impart sp e

.
c i fi c in s tru ctions which cause the lotus to blos
som ; but here as b efore th e development of its

, ,
symmetrical fo rm depends upo n th e attributes
already mentioned He who gives little or no

.
heed to that develo p ment will only form th is

organ into a cari c ature of i ts proper sha p e I t .
is po ss ibl e to cultivate a certain clai rvoyance

of thi s nature by direc ting these attribute s to
thei r e v i l side instead of to the good A pe rson.
may b e i n tolerant fai n t hearted and conten

,
-
,
tiou s toward his environment ; may for i n ,

stance perc eive the sentiments of other peo p l e
,
and either ru n away from them or hate them .
This can be so accentuated that on account of

th e mental coldness which rays out to him
from opinio n s which are contrary to his own ,
h e can n ot bear to listen to them or el s e he ,
h aves in an objectio n able manner .
The mental culture which is important for

th e development of the te n petalled lotus is of
-
a peculiarly delicate kind for here it is a ques

,
ti o n of lear n i n g to domi n ate i n a parti c ular

,
manner the very se n se impressio n s themselves

,
-
.
It is of especial importa n ce to the clai rvoyant

at the outset for o n ly by this faculty ca n he
,
avoid a source of cou n tless illusio n s a n d me n tal

m irages Usually a perso n is n ot at all clear
.
,
as to what thi n gs have domi n io n over his m em

o t i c s and fa n cies L et us take the followi n g
.
case S omeo n e travels o n the railway a n d

.
,
busies h imself with a thought S uddenly his .
though ts take quite another directio n He .
th e n recollects a n experie n ce which he had

I NI TI ATI ON AN D I TS RE S ULTS 3
s ome years ago and interweav es it wi th hi s

,
imm e di ate thought B ut he did n ot notice

.
th at hi s eyes have been tu r n ed toward the w i n

dow a n d were caught by the gla n ce of a per
,
son who bears a like n ess to someone else who

-
was i n timately co n cerned with the recollected

experien ce He re m ains u n co n scious of what
.
h e h as seen and is only co n scious of the results ,
an d he therefo re beli eves that the whole a ff ai r
arose sponta n eously How much i n life oc

.
c urs i n such a way ! We play ove r thi n gs in

our l ives which we have read or experienced
w i thout bri n gi n g the co nn ectio n i n to our con
sci ou sness. S ome one for i n sta n ce ca nn ot bear
, ,
a particular colour but he does n ot realize that

,
th is is due to the fact that the school teacher -
of whom he was afraid m a n y years ago used , ,
to wear a coat of that colour I nn umerable .
illusio n s are based upo n such association s .
Many things penetrate to the soul wi th out b e

coming embodied in the consciousness The .
following case is a possible example S ome .

44 I NI TI ATI ON AND ITS RESULTS
one reads i n the pa p er about the death of a
well known perso n and straightway is con
-
,
vi nced th at yesterday he h ad a presenti ment
about it although he n either saw n or heard of

,
a n ything th at could have given rise to such a

thought It is quite true the th ought that thi s
.
,
particular perso n would die e m erged yester ,

“ ”
day by itself, o n ly he has failed to noti ce one
thi n g . Two o r th ree hours before this th ough t
occurred to hi m yesterday he went to visit an
acquai n tance A newspaper lay on the tab l e
.
,
but he did not read it Yet u nc onsciously his

.
eyes f ell upon a n account of the dangerous il l

n ess i n which th e perso n concern ed was l yi ng .
He was not co n scious of the impressio n but ,
the e ffects of it were i n reality the wh ole sub

, ,
“ ”
stance of the prese n timent .
I f o n e reflects upon such matters o n e can ,
measure h ow deep a source of illusion a n d fan

tasy they supply It is this that he who desires
.
to foster the te n petalled lo t us must d am up

-
,
for by m ea ns of the latter o n e can perceive

46 I N I TI ATI ON A N D I TS RES ULTS
d e ri n g s
of sight or heari n g For h im only .
th ose th i ngs to which he tur n s his eye or h i s

ca r must exist He must practise th e power of
.
hearing noth i ng eve n in the loudest disturb

ance whe n h e wishes to hear n oth i ng : he m ust
re n der his ey es u n impressionable to thi n gs
which h e does not especially desire to notice .
H e must be shielded as by a mental armou r

from all u n co n scious i m pressio n s But i n the .
region of his thoughts particularly must be

ap p ly himself i n this respect H e puts a .
thought before him a n d o n ly seeks to th i nk

s uch thoughts as in full co n scious n ess and free
,
d om he ca n relate to it Fa n cy he rejects I f
, . .
h e finds himself a n xious to con n ect o n e thought

w i th anoth er he feels rou n d carefully to dis
,
c over h ow this latter th ought occurred to him .
He goes yet further If for i n sta n ce he has

.
, ,
a particul ar a n tipathy for anythi n g he will ,
wrestle with it a n d endeavour to find out some

c onscious conne c tion b e tween th e a n tipathy
and its object In this way the uncon sc ious
.
I N I TI ATI ON AN D I TS RE SULTS 47
e lem e n ts i n his soul become ever fewer a n d

fewer Only by such severe self searc hing ca n
.
-
th e ten p etalled lotus attai n the form which it

-
ought to possess The mental life of th e o c cult

.
Stude n t must be a n atte n tive life a n d h e must ,
k now how to ignore completely everything

which he does not wish or ought not to oh , ,
se rve .
I f such introspection is followed by a medi

tat i o n which is prescribed by the in structio n s
,
of the teacher the lotus flowe r i n the regio n of

,
-
the p it of the stomach blossoms in the correct

way and that which had appeared !to the
,
as tral senses already described ) as form and

heat acquire s also th e charac teristics of l i ght
and colour Through th i s are revealed for
.
,
instan c e the talents a n d capacities of p eop l e

, ,
the powers an d the hidde n attributes of Na

ture The c oloured aura of th e living c reature
.
th en be c omes visible ; all that is around us

then manifests its spiritual attributes It will .
be ob v ious that the ve ry greatest care i s ne ces

AN D ITS RES ULTS
sary in the development of this p rovi nce for ,
th e p lay of unconscious me mories is h ere ex
ceed i ng l y a c ti v e
. I f th is were not the c ase ,
many p eo p le would p o s sess the sense now unde r

consideratio n for it appears almo s t imm ed i
,
ately if a p e rson has really got the im p ressions

of his s enses so com p l etely under hi s powe r th at
they depend on noth i n g but his attent i on or i n
attention Only so long as the dominion of the

.
se n ses holds the soul in subje c tion and d ullness ,
do es i t remain i nactive .
Of greater di ffi cul ty th an the develo p ment

of this lotus is th at of th e six petalled flower
-
which i s s i tuated i n the centre of the body For

.
to cultiv ate this i t is necessary to stri ve after a

c om p lete maste ry of th e whole pe rsonality b y
mean s of self consciousn ess so th at body soul
-
, , ,
and Spi rit ma ke but o ne h armony The func

.
ti ons of t he body the inclinations and p assio n s

,
of the soul the though ts and ideas of the s p irit

,
must b e b rough t i nto compl ete union with each

other The body must be so refined and p uri
.
INI TIATION A ND I TS RE SULTS 49
fied that i ts orga n s assimilate nothing which

may not be of servic e to the soul a n d spirit .
The soul must assimilate nothing through the

body wheth er of passion or desi re wh ich is
, ,
a n tagonistic to pu re and n oble thoughts The .
spi rit must not domi n ate the soul with laws and
obligations like a slave ow n er but rather must
-
,
the soul learn to follow by i n cli n ation a n d free

choice these laws and duties The duti es of a n
.
occult stude nt must n ot rule him as by a p ower

to wh ich he u nwilli n gly submi ts but rather as ,
by something which he fulfils because h e likes

it He must evolv e a free soul wh ich h as at
.
tai ned an equilibrium be t wee n sense and s p ir i t .
He must c arry th i s so far that he can abando n

himself to th e sense because it has been so en
nobled th at it has lost the power to drag h i m
down He must no longer requi re to curb his
.
pas sions inasmuc h as they follow th e good by

,
themselves As long as a pe rso n has to chas

.
tise himself he cannot arrive at a c ertain stage

of occult edu c ation for a v i rt ue to whi c h o ne
,
50 I NITI A TI ON A N D I TS RE S ULTS
has to constrai n oneself is then v aluel ess As .
long a s one retai n s a desire even al though o n e

,
struggl es not to comply th erew i th it upse ts ,
one s development nor does it matter whether

’
,
this appetite be of the soul or of the body For .
example if some one avoids a part i cular stim

,
u l an t for the purpose of pur i fying hims elf by
refining his pleasures it can only b en efit him

,
if his b ody s u ffers nothing by th is deprivatio n .
If this be not the case it i s an i ndication that

th e body requi res th e stimulant and th e renu n
,
c i at io n is the n worthless In this case it may

.
eve n be true that the person in question must

first of all forego the desira b le goal and wait
i—
until favourable condition s p erhaps only i n
-
—
another l i fe s hall surrou n d him A tempered .
renun ci ation is u n der certain c i rcumstan c es a

, ,
muc h greater acquisition than the struggle for

somethi ng which i n given c ondit i ons remains
unatta i na bl e I n deed such a tempered renu n
.
,
c i at io n contr i butes more than such struggle to

’
one s development .
I NITI ATION AN D I TS RE S ULTS 51
He who has evolved the six petalled lotus -
c an communi c ate with bei n gs who are n ative

to the high er worlds though even then o n ly if
,
th e i r presence is manifested i n the astral or

soul world I n an o c cult school however no
-
.
, ,
i n structions concerni n g th e developme n t of this
lotus flow e r would be imparted before the stu

-
dent had trodde n far e n ough on the upward

path to permit of his spi rit mou n ti ng i n to a
yet higher world The fo rmation of these
.
lotus flowers must always be accompa n ied by

-
entrance in to this really spiritual Sphere .
Otherwise the student would fall into error a n d

un c ertain ty He would u n doubtedly be able
.
to see but he would remai n incapable of esti

,
mat i ng r i ghtly the phenomena there see n .
Now there already exists i n him who has

learned to evolve the six petalled lotus a secu r
-
,
ity from error and giddiness for n o one who ,
h as acqui red complete equilibrium of sense !or

body ) passio n !or soul ) a n d thought !or
, ,
spirit ) will be easily led into mistakes Noth .

52 I NITI ATION A N D I TS RE SULTS
i n g is more esse n tial tha n this securi ty when ,
by the developme n t of the six petalled lo t us-

,
bei n gs possessed of life and i n depende n ce and ,
belo n gi n g to a world so completely hidde n

from his physical se n ses are revealed before
,
the spirit of the student I n order to en sure the

.
n ecessary safe ty i n this world it is n ot enough

,
to have cultivated the lotu s flowers si n ce he

-
,
must have yet higher organs at his dispo sal .

54 I NI TIATION AN D I TS RES ULTS
This is the fine body which to the eyes of the
clairvoyant appears as a kind of wraith of the
physical body I t is to some exte n t a medium
.
between th e phys ic al a n d the astral bodies I f .
o n e is equipped with clai rvoya n t powers o n e ,
c a n quite co n sciously suggest away the physi

c al body o f a person O n that higher pla n e it
.
is no more tha n what is ordi n arily an exercise

’
of one s attentio n ! ust as a person can wi th
.
draw his atte n tio n from a nythi n g that is b e

fore him so that i t does not exist for h im so ,
can the c lai rvoyant blot out a physical body

from his obs e rvation so that it be c omes for ,
him phys ic ally transpare n t If he appl i es th is

,
.
power to a h uman bei n g who stands i n front

of him noth ing remai n s in his soul sigh t ex
,
-
cept the eth eric body a n d the astral body wh i ch ,
is greater than either of the other two and i n

te rp enet rates them both The etheric b ody h as
.
approximately the size and fo rm of the p hys i

cal body so that i t practically fills the same
,
space It is a n extremely delicate and fi nel y

.
I N I TI ATI ON AND I TS RES ULTS
orga n ized vehicle Its pri n cipal colour is dif .

1
fe ren t fro m the seve n co n tained i n the rai n

bow He who is able to ob serve it is introduced
.
to a colour which is not observable by the se n se

perceptio n s I t ca n be compared to the colour
.
of a you n g peach blos so m as accurately as to -
any I f o n e desires to co n tem plate the etheric

.
’
body alone o n e has to exti n guish o n e s ob ser
,
vatio n of the astral body by a n exercise of at

te n tio n similar to that already suggested If .
o ne omits to do so one s view of the etheric ,

’
body is co n fused by the complete interpenetra

tio n of th e astral body .
Now the particles of th is etheric body are in

continual motio n Cou n tless currents pass .
th rough it i n every directio n B y th ese cu r .
rents life itself is supported a n d regulated .
1 I wo ul d req uest th e phy s ici st to resent th e exp ression

not
” ”
The
“
wo r d eth er i s merely an at
“
ether ic b ody . use o f t he
p
tem t t o s ugg est t h e fin en e s s of the p hen omen on und er con
s i der at ion . I t has p r acti cal l y no con nect ion at al l with the
hy potheti et h er o f th e phy si ci st .
56 I N I TI ATION AN D ITS RE S ULTS
Eve ry body that has life including the animals
,
a n d p lants p ossesses such an etheric double

,
.
Even in minerals there are traces of it percep

tible to the attentive observer These curre n ts
.
a n d movements are almost e n tirely i n dep end

e n t of the human will and consciousness just ,
as the action of the heart or stomach i n the

physical bod y is inde p endent of our will A s .
long as a p erson does n ot take his developme n t

!in th e sense of acqui ri n g superse n sual t acul
ties ) into his own hands th is i n dependence t e
,
mains For his development at a certain stage

.
consists p recisely i n adding to the u n conscious

i n dependent ou tray i ngs and m ovements of the
etheric body that by which the i n dividual is
enabled to i n flue n ce th em in a conscious ma n
ner by h i m self .
Wh en his occult education has progressed

so far th at the lotu s fl owe rs d escribed i n the
-
foregoing ch apters begi n to besti r themselves ,
the n the student is gi ven certain di rectio n s

whi ch l ead to th e evo cati on of particular cur
A S L S
I NI TI TION AND I TS RE U T 57
rents and m ovements w ith in his etheric body .
The object of these directions is to fashion in

th e region of the p hysical heart a kind of cen
tre from which th ese o u tray i ngs a n d move
ments with th eir manifold forms a n d colours
, ,
m ay go forth The centre is in reality n ot

.
, ,
merely a given p oint but a most complicated

,
structure a really wo n derful organ It glows

,
.
and shimmers with all ki n ds of colour and dis

plays forms of the greatest symmetry forms—
which are capable of tra n sfo rmatio n with as
to nishi ng speed Oth er forms and o u tr ay i ng s
.
of co l our p roceed from this orga n to the other

parts of th e b ody as also to those of th e astr al
,
body which they e n tirely p e rv ade and illu

,
mine The most important of thes e rays move

.
,
however toward th e lotus flowers They per

,
-
.
vade each peta l and regulate i ts revolutions ;

then streami n g out at the points of the petals
, ,
they lose themsel ves in the surroundi n g space .
The mo re evolved a p erson may be the greater ,

58 I N I TI ATI ON AN D I TS RE SULTS
becomes the circumference to which these
rays extend .
The twelve petalled lotus flower has a pe en

- -
l i a rl y close connectio n with the centre already

descr ibed Th e rays move directly into it a n d
.
,
from it p roceed on the one s i de toward the

, ,
sixteen petalled and the two petalled lotuses

- -
,
and on th e other the lowe r side to th e lotuses

, , ,
of eigh t of six and of four petals This is the

, ,
.
reason why the very greatest c are mu s t be

given to the development of the twelve pet -
al l ed lotus I f any imperfection be there al

.
lowed th e entire formatio n o f the wh o l e

,
structure must remain dis orderly Fro m wh at .
has here been said one may imagine h ow del i,
cate and i n timate i s thi s occult educatio n a n d ,
how str i ctly one h as to conduct oneself if

eve rythi ng is to be d eveloped i n the proper
way It will now be quite evident th at instru c
.
tion concerning th e development of sup e rsen

sual faculties ca n only be given by one who has
already experienced everything which b e de
A
IN I TI TI ON AND I TS RE S U LTS
sires to awaken in another a n d who is n uques

,
tion ab l y in a p osition to know whether his i n
str u c ti ons will be rewarded with success .
I f the student follows out what is prescribed

for him in these instructions he introduces i n to
,
h i s eth eric body o u tray i ng s and vibratio n s

wh ich are i n harmo n y with the laws a n d th e
evolution of the world to which he belo n gs .
Consequentl y these i n structio n s are reflectio n s

,
of the great laws which govern the develop

ment of the world They co n sist of spe c ial ex
.
e rc i ses i n meditatio n a n d in conce n trati o n ,
whi ch i f appropriately pra c tised produce the

, ,
results described The content of these instru c

.
tions may only be im p arted to the individual

during his oc c ult education At certain per
.
io d s these instructio n s must entirely perv ade

his soul with th eir content so that h e is i n
,
w ardl y as it were filled with it

, ,
He starts
.
quite s imply with what is necessary above all

thi ngs a deepening a n d an interioris ation of
,
the reasonable and se n sib le though t of th e

60 I N I TI ATION AN D ITS RESULTS
head Thi s thought is th us made free and i n
.
dependent o f all sense impressions or exp e ri-
en ces I t is in a certain m a n ner concentrated

.
into a poi n t which is e n tirely i n the power of

the I ndividual B y doing this a prelimina ry
.
centre for the rays of the etheric body is

formed This centre is not yet in the regi on
.
of the h eart but in that of the head and it ap

, ,
pears to th e clairvoyant as the outgoing poi n t

of the vibrations Only that occult educa.
t io n al course is succe s sful which creates this
centre firs t I f this centre were from the outset

.
transferred to the region of th e heart th e clair ,
voyant could doubtless obtain gli m pses of the

high e r worlds ; but he would yet lac k any true
i n sight into the co n nection be tween these
higher world s a n d that of our ses ses and thi s ,
for th e individual at a certain stage of the

world s evolution is an unconditional neces
’
s i ty
. The clai rvoya n t m ust n ot become a mere
e n thusiast ; he must retai n his footi n g upon
firm earth .
lotus a n d from there take thei r way as undu
,
lati n g currents along the h ands .
O n e fi n ds as a furth er develo p m ent that

these currents branch out ramify in a delicate ,
man n er a n d become in a certain sense like

,
wicker work so that the entire e theric body is

-
,
enmeshed i n a n e twork S ince h itherto the .
eth eric body h as had no closure to e xternals ,
so that the life curren ts of the great ocea n of

-
life flowed freely in a n d out it now becomes ,
nece s sary that impacts from outside should

pass through this cuticle Thus th e individual
.
becomes sensitive to thes e external streams

they become perc eptible to him The time has .
now come to give the complete system of rays

and vib rations a centre in the heart That again .
, ,
is accomplished by mea ns of a meditative a n d

c oncentrative exercise and s i multaneously th e
,
student attains th e point at which he can hear

”
th e inner word All things now acquire for
“
.
him a n ew sign ifi c ance They become audible

.
,
as it were in their innermost n ature ; they

,
I NI TI ATI ON A N D I TS RE S ULTS 63
speak to him from their true bei n g The cur .
re n ts already described place him i n touch with

the interior of th e world to which they appe t
tai n He begi n s to m ingle his life with th e
.
life of his e n viro n me n t a n d ca n let it rever

,
berate i n the vi b ati o ns of his lotus fl ow e rs -

.
Thus the i n dividual e n ters th e spiritual world .
If he has come so far he acqui res a n ew u n

,
d e rst an d i ng of all that the great teachers of

huma n ity have uttered The sayi n gs of the.
B uddha for i n sta n ce now produce a new e f

, ,
fect upo n him They perv ade him with a

.
beatitude of which he had never dreamed b e

fore For th e sound of th e words now follows
.
the moveme n ts a n d rh ythms which he has

formed withi n hi m self He is n ow able to .
know di rectly how a person like th e Buddh a

did not proclai m his ow n individual revela
tions but those which flowed into h i m fro m
,
th e i nmost being of all things A fact must .
he re be expla i ned which could only be c om

p rehe n ded in the ligh t of wh at h a s a l ready
64 I N I TI ATION A N D I TS RESULTS
been s aid The many rep etition s i n the s ay
.
ings o i the B uddha are n ot rightly understoo d

by the ma p l e of our present evolutiona ry stage .
For the o c cult student they are like someth ing

upon which he may gladly let h is i n ner senses
rest for they correspond to certain rhythm i c
,
m ovements in the etheric body Devoti on al .
musing on th ese w ith com p lete inward pea ce

, ,
creates a harmony with these movements and ,
because th ey themselves are ec h oes of c erta i n

universa l rhythms which also at particular
points re p eat themselves and make regular t e
tu rns to their former modes th e individual , ,
liste ni ng to th e wis dom of the B uddha puts ,
himself into harmony with the s ecrets of the

universe .
In the th eosophical ha n dbooks we meet with

fo u r attr i butes which must be developed by the
student on what is called the probationa ry path ,
in order th at he may attain th e hi gher k n owl

edge The first is the facul ty for d i sc rim i n at
.
in g be tween the eternal and the temporal the ,

A
I N I TI TION A ND I TS RE SULTS 65
true a n d the false the truth and mere opinion

, .
The seco n d is a right estimate of th e ete rn a l '
a n d true as opposed to th e perishable and i l l u

sory The third faculty is that of practisi n g
.
the six qualities already mentio n ed in the fore

going chapters : thought co n trol co n trol of
-
,
action persevera n ce tolera n ce good faith and

, , , ,
equa n imity The fourth attribute n e c essa ry is

.
the longi n g for freedom A m ere i n tellectual

.
comprehe n sio n of what is i n cluded i n these

attributes is utterly worthless They must b e .
come so i n corporated into the soul that they

endure as i n ner habits L et us take for in
.
,
—
stance the first o i these attributes the dis
,
cri minatio n betwee n the ete rn al and the tem

poral O n e m ust so educate oneself that quite
.
naturally one discri m inates in everyth ing that

confronts one between its impermanent char
ac ter i sti cs and th ose that will endure This .
’
can only be a cc omp l i sh ed i f i n one s o bs erva
ti on of th e external world one conti nues again
and again to make th i s attempt At la s t the .
66 I N I TI ATI ON AND I TS RE SULTS
gaze i n quite a n atural way discerns what en
dures just as hitherto it had satisfied itself with
,
“
the impermanent All that is im p erma n e n t
.
is only a p arable — that is a truth which b e

comes an obv i ous co n viction for the soul A n d .
so too must it be with the others of the four

, ,
attributes on the path of probation .
Now under the i n fluence of these four spi r

i tu al habits the etheric body actually tra n s
—
form s itself B y the fi rst the discrimination
.
—
betwee n the true a n d the false the ce n tre al
ready described is formed i n the head and that
i n the larynx is prepared The exercises of .
conce n tration before mentioned are above all

, ,
thi n gs esse n tial to a n y true formatio n It is .
they that create while the four spi ritual habits

,
bring to fruition If the ce n tre in th e larynx

.
has been prepared th e free control of th e ,
etheric body as above exp lai n ed will follow

, , ,
and its separatio n its network coveri n g b e

, ,
produced by the correct esti m ating of the eter

nal as opposed to the imperm anent If the stu .
InI TI ATIoN AND I TS RE SULTS 67
de n t acquires this power of e s timation th e ,
facts of the higher worlds will gradually b e

come p erceptible O n ly it must not be thought
.
that one has merely to perform those acti ons

which appear to be important whe n measured
by the intellect alone The smallest action
.
,
eve ry lit tle thi n g accomplished has someth i ng ,
of importa n ce in the vast hous ehold of th e

world a n d it is only necessary th at one sh ou l d
,
b ecome conscious of this i mportance I t is not .
a questi on of underestimati n g the daily a ffa i rs

of life but of rightly esti mating th em Enough
,
.
has been said i n the prev i ous ch apter of th e

six v irtues of wh i ch the third attribute is com
posed Th ey are connected with th e develop
.
ment of the twelve petalled lotus i n th e region

-
of the heart and this as already in dicated is

, , ,
assoc i ated with the life current of th e eth eri c

-
body Th e fourth attribute wh i ch is the l ong

.
,
i n g fo r freedom s erves to bring to fruition th e

,
ether i c organ situated in the h eart I f th e s e .
attri butes have b e come rea l Sp i ri tual h ab i ts ,

68 I N I TI ATI ON A N D I TS RE S ULTS
the individual frees himself from everythi n g
which only depe n ds upon the capacities of his
personal nature He ceases to co n template
.
things from his own separate sta n dpoi n t The .
limits of his n arrow self which fetter him to

,
this outlook disappear The secrets of the

,
.
spiritual world reveal themselves to h is in n er

self This is liberation For all fetters co n
. .
strai n the individual to regard thi n gs a n d b e

i n gs as if they corresponded to his pe rsonal
limitatio n s From this perso n al manner of re
.
garding thi n gs th e occult student must b e co me

i n dependent and free .
From th is it will be clear th at the writings

wh ich have p roceeded from the mighty sages
c an become effective in the innermost deeps
of human n ature The sayi n gs co n cer n i n g the

.
four attributes are ju st such ema n ations of

“ ”
p ri meval wisdom Th ey can be found n u
.
der one form or anoth er in all th e great reli

gions The founders of th e great religio n s did
.
not give mankind these teach ings from vague

70 A
I NI TI TI ON AN D I TS RE S ULTS
process of h umani ty One only understands
.
the true meaning of religious instru c tions

when one realizes that th ey are the result of
actual knowledge concerning the innermost
depths of human nature .
The leaders of religion were mighty s ages ,
and it is out of their knowledge that the i deals

of humani ty hav e sp rung Yet th e ind iv idual
.
c omes nearer to these leaders when he uplifts

h imself in his own evolution to their he i gh ts .
I f a person has evolved h is etheric body in

th e m anner just described , an e n ti rely new life
i s opened up before him and at the proper
,
p eriod in the course of his training he now re

ce ives that enlightenment wh ich adapts hi m to
thi s new existence For example he sees !by

.
,
means of th e sixteen petalled lotu s ) the s h a p es

-
of a higher world He must then realize

.
how d i fferent are these forms when caused by

th is or that object or being I n the first place,
.
he should notice that he i s ab l e in a certa i n ,
manner to influence some of these form s v ery

,
I N I TIA TI ON AN D ITS RE SULTS 71
powerfully by m eans of his thoughts and feel

ings but others not at all or o n ly to a li m ited
, ,
extent One species of these figures wi ll be

.
altered immediately if the observer thinks to

“ ”
h i mself when they appear that is beautiful
, ,
and then in the course of his contemplation

“
changes his thought and thinks that i s use
”
ful
. It is particularly characteri stic of the
form s which come fro m m inerals or from oh
j ec ts artistically made th at they
,
possess the
pecul i ari ty of changi n g under every th ought
or feeling which is dire cted upon th em by the
observer In a lesser degree this is also true
.
of the form s that proceed fro m plants and to ,
a s till smaller extent of those that are con

nect e d with ani m als These fo rms are full of
.
life and motio n but this m otion o n ly pertains

,
to that part which is u n der the influence of

hu m an th ought or feeling and i n the other
,
parts it is e ffected by forces upon which a per

son can exercise no i n fluen ce Now there ap .
pears withi n this whole world a species of

72 I NTTI ATION AND ITS RE SULTS
forms whi ch are almost entirelyuna ffec ted by

activities on the part of hu m an beings The .
student c an convince himself that these forms

pro c eed either from mineral s or arti ficial
shap es and not from ani m als or plants I n
, .
order to make th ese things quite c lear he must ,
now obse rve those form s which he can realize

to have proceeded fro m the feelings i m pulses , ,
and passions of hum an beings Yet he may

.
find that upon these form s his own th oughts

and feel i ngs still hold so m e influen ce even al ,
th ough i t be c omparatively s m all There al

.
ways remains a residuum of forms in th i s

world upon which all such influences are less
and less e ffective Indeed this residuu m com
.
,
prises a very large proportion of those forms

which are usually discerned by the student at
the outset of his career He can only enlighten
.
himself con cerni n g the nature of this species

by observing hi m self He then learns that
.
they were produced by hi m sel f that what he

,
do es or wishes or wills finds expressio n i n

A
INI TI TI ON AND I TS RE SULTS 73
th e s e forms An i m pulse that dwells in him

.
,
a desire that he possesses a purpose that he

,
harbors and so forth are all m anifested in

, ,
these for m s ; indeed his whole chara c ter dis

,
plays itself i n this world of shapes B y means .
of h is thoughts and feeli n gs a person can ex

e rci se an influence upo n all the form s which
do not c o m e fro m himself ; but upon thos e

which are sent into the higher world from his
own being he possesses no power when o n ce
he has created the m .
Now it follows fro m what has been said

that from th is higher aspect of hu m an i n ner
nature one s own world of i m pulses desires
’
, ,
an d co nceptio n s is seen to express itself in out
ward shapes just like all oth er bei n gs or oh

,
j ec ts. To the higher knowledge th e i n ner
world appears as a part of the outer world .
! u s t as anyone i n the physical world who

should b e surrou n ded with m irrors could look
at h is p h ysical form in that way so too in a , , ,
h i gher world does the Spiritual self of ma n

74 I N I TI ATION AN D I TS RESULTS
appear to him as a n image reflected in a mir
ror .
At th is stage of develop m ent th e student

has arrived at the point when he overcomes
“ ”
t he illusion of the pe rsonal self as it has ,
been expressed in theosophical books He can .
now regard that in n er perso n ali ty as some

th i n g exter n al to hi m self just as previously he
,
recognized as extern al the thi n gs which af

fec ted his senses Thus he learns by gradual
.
expe rience to m aster hi mself as hitherto he

mastered the beings around hi m .
I f a n y o n e obtai n s a view i n to this higher

world before his n ature has been suffi cie n tly
p repared he sta n ds before the character pic
,
-
ture of his ow n soul as before a n e n igm a .
There his ow n i m pulses a n d passio n s co n fro n t

hi m i n the shapes of a n i m als or more seldom , ,
of hu m a n bei n gs It is true that the a n i m al

.
forms of this world have n ever quite the ap

p e a r a n c e of those i n the physical world but ,
still they possess a re m ote resembla n ce By

,
.
I NI TIATION AND ITS RES ULTS 75
the inexpe rt observer th ey may eas i ly be take n

for the same When one enters this world one
.
,
must adopt a n entirely new m ethod of formi n g

’
one s judgm ents For seeing that th ose th i ngs
.
,
which properly pertain to the i n ner nature ap

’
pear as external to one s self they are only dis
,
cer n ed as the m irrored reflectio n s of wh at they

really are Wh e n for i n stance one perce ives
.
, ,
a number one must reverse it as one would

,
read what is seen in a m i rror 26 5 would .
mean in reality 56 2 One sees a sphere as if

.
one were i n the centre of it One has th ere .
fore at first to tra n slate correctly th ese i nner

perception s The attributes of the soul appear
.
likewise as if i n a mirror A wish that is di

.
rec te d toward so m e thing outside appears as a
form which m oves toward th e perso n who

wished it Passio n s that have their habitatio n
.
i n the lower part of human n ature take on th e

forms of ani m als or of similar shapes th at let
themselves loose upon the i n dividual I n real .
ity these passio n s are struggli n g outward ; it is

in the external world that they seek for satis
faction but this ou tward striving appears i n
,
the mirrored reflectio n as an atta ck upon the

impassioned perso n .
If the student before attaini n g the higher

,
vision , has learned by quiet s i n cere exami n a ,
tion of himself to realize his ow n attributes he ,
will the n at the m om e n t whe n his inner self

,
appears to him as a m irrored reflectio n out

side fi n d courage a n d power to co n duct him
,
self i n the right way People who have n ot .
pra c tised such i ntrospecti on suffi cie n tly to en

able them to know their own in n er n atures will
n ot recogn ize themselves in these m irrored
pictures a n d will mistake them for someth ing
fore i gn Or they may be c ome alarm ed at the
.
visio n a n d say to th e mselves because they ca n ,
n ot endure the sight that the whole thing is

,
noth ing but a n illusio n which can not lead

them anywhere I n either c ase the person by
.
,
h is u nseaso n able arrival at a certain stage i n

78 I NI TI ATION AN D I TS RE SULTS
h i gher worl ds c an only follow a so l id kn ow l
’
e dge and estimate of o n e s own nature .
It is pi c tures th en th at th e stude n t meets

, ,
on h is way Up to the h igher worlds for the ,
realities whi ch are exp ressed b y th ese pictures

are really in hi m self He must soon become
.
suffi ciently mature to prevent himself from de

siring at thi s fi rst stage veritab l e realities but
, , ,
to allow of h is regarding th ese pi c tures as ap

p prO r i a
. te But inwardly he s oon learns some
thing com p letely new fro m hi s obs ervation of
this p i cture worl d His l ower self only exists
-
.
for hi m as mirrored pictures yet in the mi dst ,
of these re fle c tion s ap p ears th e true reality that

is his higher sel f Out of the pic tures of the
.
l ower personali ty the form of th e Sp i ritual ego

becomes v is ible The n from th e l atter th reads
.
are s p un to other and higher s p iri tual realities .
This i s the moment when the two peta ll ed -
lotus in th e region of the eyes is requi red I f .
th is now begins to sti r th e ind ividual attains

,
the power of s etti n g his higher ego in connec

I N I TI ATI ON AN D I TS RE SULTS 79
tion with spi ritual supe rhu m an entities The

, .
curre n ts which flow from this lotus move so

toward these higher e n tities that the move
ments here spoke n of are fully appare n t to th e
individual ! ust as the light m akes phys i c al
.
objects visible to the eyes these currents reveal,
the spiritual thi n gs of the higher worlds .
Through si n ki n g himself into certa i n ideas

which the teacher i m parts to the pupil i n per
sonal i n tercourse the latter learn s to set in m o
,
tion a n d then to direct the curre n ts proceed

,
ing from this lotus fl ower of the eyes -

.
At this stage of develop m e n t espe c ially ,
what is meant by a really sound capacity for

judgment and a clear logical training is m ani
,
fested One ha s only to consider that here the

.
higher self which had hitherto slumbered u n

,
con s c i ous and li ke a seed is born into con ,
scious existe nce One is here con cerned not

.
with a figurative but with a veritable birth in

,
th e Spi ritual world and the being n ow born

, ,
the higher self if it is to be capab l e of life

, ,
I N I TI ATION A N D I TS RE SULTS 81
when still in the womb of th e mother l ive s ac ,
cording to natural forc es which after its birth

it uses with its organs of sense so the higher ,
self i n a hu m an being lives accordi n g to the

laws of th e Spiritual world even during its
physical i n carceration ; and even as the ch i ld
out of a vagu e sen s ational life a cquires the
powers above mentioned so can a human b e
,
i n g also acquire the powers of the spiritual

world before his own higher self is born In .
deed he mu s t do th is if the latter is to enter

,
its world as a completely developed being It .
“
would be quite wrong for anyone to say I ,
cannot follow the teach i n g s of the mysti c a n d

theosophist u n til I can see them for myself ,
for if he should adopt th is view he could cer ,
tai n l y never attai n to genuine high er knowl
edge .
He would be i n th e s ame position as a child

in the mother s womb who should reject the
’
powers that would co m e to him th rough the

m other and should intend to wa i t until he
,
82 I N I TI ATI ON AN D I TS RE S ULTS
could create the mfor hi mself Even as the .
embryo of the child learns I n its d i m life to

accept as right and good what is o ffered to it ,
so Should it be with the perso n who is stil l

bli n dfolded i n relatio n to the truths declared
in the teachi n gs of mystic or th eosophist .
There is a n i n sight based upo n i n tuition of

,
the truth and a clear sound all rou n d critical

, ,
-
reason concern ing these teachi n gs that exists

, ,
before one ca n yet see spiritual thi n gs for one

se l f Fi rst one must learn the mystical wis
.
,
do m and by this very study prepare on eself

,
to see A pe rso n who should lear n to see b e

.
fore he has p repared himself i n this way

would resemble a child who was born with
eyes and ears but without a brai n The entire .
world of sound a n d color would wide n out b e

fore hi m but he could m ake no use of it
,
.
That which before appealed to the stude n t

th rough his se n se of truth his reaso n and his , ,
intelligence becom es at the stage of occult

, ,
educatio n already des c ribed , his own ex po

I N I TI ATI ON A N D I TS RES ULTS 83
r ience . He now has a direct realization of his

higher self and he learn s how th is higher self
,
is co n nected with spi ritual entities of a loftier

nature a n d how it form s a union with the m .
He sees how the lower self desce n ds from a

higher world a n d it is revealed to hi m how his
,
higher natu re outlasts the lower Now he c an .
disti n guish betwee n what is permanent i n him

self an d what is perishable and this is nothing
,
less than the power to understand fro m his

ow n observation the teachings con c erning the
incarnation of the higher self i n the lower It .
will now become p l ai n to h i m that he stands

in a lofty Spiritual relation thereto that hi s at ,
tributes a n d his destiny are originated by this

very relatio n He learns to k n ow the law of
.
his life his Karma He perceives th at his

,
.
lower self as it at present shapes his destiny

, ,
is only one of the forms which can be adopted

by his higher nature He discerns the p o s s i
.
b i l i ty stretching before his higher s elf of ,
workin g upon his own n ature so that he may

84 A
I NI TI TI ON A N D I TS RE SULTS
become ever more and more perfect Now .
,
too he can penetrate into th e great di fferences

,
between hum an beings in regard to thei r co m

p a r at i ve perfectio n He
. will recognize that
there are before hi m people who have already
traversed the stages that still lie in front of
hi m He discerns that the teachin g s and deeds
.
of such people p roceed fro m the inspi ratio n of

a higher world All this he owes to his first
.
glimpse i n to this higher world Those who .
“ ”
have bee n called the masters of wisdo m ,
“
the great I n itiates of huma n ity will now ,
b egi n to appear as veritable facts .
These are the treasures which the student

at this stage owes to his develop m ent : i n sight
into his higher sel f ; into the doctri n e of th e
i n c arnation of th is higher self in a lower ; into
th e laws by wh i ch life i n the physical world is
regulated ac cording to its spiritu al connec
—
tions i a short the law of Karm a ; a n d fi
, ,
n ally ins i ght i n to the nature of th e great Ini

,
ti ates .
86 A
I N I TI TI ON A ND ITS RESULTS
S u p ers ti ti on in i ts esse nce is noth ing but d e
p en d e n ce upon ou t w ard and v i s ible a c ts with
,
out insight into th e spi ri tual fa c ts of whi c h

th ey are the expression .
I t has been shown how th e s tudent by ar ,
riving at thi s stage becomes veritably a new

,
person L ittle by little he can now ma ture

.
himself by means of the currents th at come

from the eth eric body unti l he c an c ontrol th e
,
still high er v ita l element that which is cal l ed

,
“ ”
the fire of Kundalini and by so doing can
,
attain a completer l iberty from the bondage of

his ph ys i cal b ody .
III
D REAM L I FE -
An intimatio n th at the student has arrived at

the stage of evolution described i n the forego
ing chapter is the change which comes over his
dream life Hitherto his dreams were co n
-
.
fused and haphazard but n ow th ey begi n to

,
assume a more regular character Thei r pic .
tures begi n to arrange themselves i n an o r

de rl y way like th e phenomena of daily life
,
.
He can discern i n them laws causes a n d c i , ,
fe ets The contents of his dreams will like

.
wise change While hith erto he discerned

.
only the rcvc rb e ratio ns of daily life mixed i m ,
pressions of his surroundings or of his physical

con dition th ere n ow appear before him pic
,
tures of a world with which he had no ac

quaintan c e At first indeed the general n a
.
, ,
ture of his dreams will remain as of old in s o

87
88 I N I TI ATI ON AN D ITS RE SULTS
far as the dre am di fferentiates itse l f f rom wak
i n g phe n omena by p resenting in emb l emati cal
form whatever it wishes to express This .
dramatization cannot have escaped th e no ti ce

of any attentive observer of dream life For -
.
insta n ce you may dream th at you are catching

,
some horrible creature and experiencing a n

u n pleasa n t se n sation in your hand You wake .
up to discover that you are tightly holding a

piece of the bed clothes The perception does
-
.
not exp ress itself plainly but o n ly through

,
the allegorical image Or you may dream that

.
you are flyi n g from some pursuer and in con

sequence you experience fear On waking up .
you find that during sleep you had been su ffer

ing from palpitatio n of the heart The stom .
ach which is replete with indigestible food

will c ause uneasy dream pictures Occur -
.
rences in the neighborhood of the sleeping per
son may al s o reflect them s elves allegorically i n

dreams The striking of a clock may evoke
.
th e p i c ture of soldiers marching by to the

A
IN I TI TI ON AN D ITS RE SULTS 89
sound of thei r drums Or a falling chair can

.
become th e origi n of a complete dream drama -
in which the sou n d of falli n g is translated into

a gun report a n d so forth The more regu
,
.
lated dream s of the person who s e etheric body

has begu n its development have also this alle
g o r i c al method of expres s ion but they ,
will
cease to repeat merely the fa c ts of the physical
environment or of the sense body As these -
.
dreams which owe t hei r origin to such things

be come orderly they are mixed up with similar
dream p ic tures which are th e expressio n of
-
things and events in another world Here one .
has ex p erien c es th at lie b ey ond the range of

one s wak ing con s ciousness Now it must
’
.
never be fancied th at any true mystic will the n

make the things which in this manner b e ex
p e r i en c es in dreams the bas i s o f any au th o ri t a
ti ve account of the higher world One must .
on l y consider su ch dream experiences as hints

-
of a higher development Very soon as a fur

.
,
ther res ult of this we find that the p i ctures of

,
90 I NI TIATION AND ITS RESULTS
the dream i ng s tu dent are no lo nge r as h ither ,
to with drawn by the gu i dance o i a c areful i n

,
tel l ect but are regulated thereby an d method

, ,
i cal l y considered like the con c eptio ns and im

p ressions of the waking consciousness The .
di fferen c e be tween th is dream co n sciousness-
and the waking state grows eve r smaller and

smal l er The dream e r becomes in the fullest
.
,
meaning of the word awake i n his dream life

,
-
that i s to say he can feel hi m self to be the

,
master and leader of the pictures which th en

appear .
During his dreams the i n dividual actually

finds himself i n a world which is other th an
that of his ph ysical senses B ut if he possesses
.
only u n evolved spiritual organs he can receive

,
from that world only the confused dramatiza

tions already mentio n ed It would o n ly be as
.
much at his disposal as would b e the sense

world to a being equ ipped with nothing but
th e most rudimentary of eyes I n co n sequence
.
he c ould only di sc ern in thi s wor l d the reflec

nm IATI ON AND ITS
'
RE SULTS 91
ti o ns and reve rberati ons of ordinary life Yet .
in dream h e can see th ese be cause his s oul i n

,
te rwe aves i ts daily perc eption s as pictures into

th e stu ff of wh i ch that o ther world consists It .
must here be c learly u nderstood th at in add i

tio n to the workaday conscious life one lead s
in this world a second and un cons c ious exist
en c e. Eve ryth i n g th at one perceives or thi n ks
becomes impressed upon this other world .
Only if th e lotus flow ers are evolved can o ne

-
p erceive these impressions Now certain mi n

.
ute beginnings o f the lotus fl ow e rs are al ways

-
at th e disposal of anyone . During dai l y con

sci o u sness h e cannot perceive with th em , b e
cause the impressions made on him are very

fai n t I t is for s i milar reasons th at during the
.
dayti m e one can not see the stars They c anno t

.
strike our p erceptions when opposed by the

fierce and active sunlight and it is just in this
,
way that faint s p iritual impress i ons c annot

make themselve s fe l t in opposition to the m as
terfu l imp ress i ons o f the p h ysical sens es .
92 S
INI TIATION AND ITS RE UL T S
Wh en the door of ou tward se nse is cl osed in
s l eep th ese impres sions c an eme rg e con fu s ed
,
l y and then the dre am er remembers wh at h e

,
has ex pe rienced i n anoth er world Yet as ai .

,
ready remarked at first these experiences are

,
noth ing more th a n that which conceptions re

lated to the physical senses have impres s ed on
the sp i ri tu al wo rl d Only th e developed lo tus
. .
flowers make it po s sible for manifestation s

wh ich are u n connected with th e physi c al
world to show themselves Out of th e devel
.
op m en t of th e eth eric body arises a full knowl
edge con c erning the imp ressions that are con

veyed from one world to another With th i s
.
the s tudent s communication with a new world

’
—
has begun He must now b y mean s of the
.
—
instructions give n i n his occult train i ng fi rst
of all acquire a two fold nature I t must b e
-
.
come possible for him during waking hours to

recall quite cons c iously the beings he has oh
served in dream I f he has acquired this facul
.
ty he will then b ecome able to make these oh

94 I NI TI ATION AN D I TS RE SU LTS
his lowe r self such as m ight be taken by some
,
o n e limited to the world of se n se with regard

to some i n strument or vehicle which serves
him ! ust as such a perso n would n ot consider
.
the carriage i n which he traveled to be hi m

“ ” “
self th ough h e says I travel or I go so
, , , ,
“
to o the developed perso n whe n he says I go
, ,
th rough th e door retains i n his mi n d the con

,
“ ”
cep ti o n I take my body through the door
,
.
This must become for him such an habitual

idea th at he n ever for a moment loses the firm
grou n d of the physical world th at never a ,
feeli n g of estra n gement in the world of sense

arises I f the student does n ot wish to become
.
a mere fantas tic or vain enthusiast he must ,
work with the higher consciousness so that he ,
does not im p ove rish his life in the physical

world but enriches it even as the person w ho
, ,
make s use of a railway instead of his own legs

may enrich himself by going for a jour n ey .
I f the Student has raised himself to such a

—
l i fe in the higher Ego then o r still mo re ,
IN I TI ATI ON A N D I TS RES ULTS 95
p robably during the acquisitio n of the higher

—
co n sciousness i t will be rev ealed to him how
he may sti r into life what is calle d the fire of
Kundalini wh ich lies i n the organ at the heart ,
a n d further h ow he may direct th e curre n ts

, ,
d escribed in a previou s chapter .
This fire of Ku n dali n i is an e lement of fi n er

material wh ich flows outward from this orga n
a n d streams in lumi n ous loveliness th rough the
self mov ing lotu s flowe rs a n d the other canals
- -
of the evol v ed etheric body Th ence it radi .
ates ou tward on the surrounding Spiri tual

world and makes it spiritually v isible just as ,
the sunshine falli n g upo n the surrounding oh

j e c ts makes v isible the physical world .
How thi s fire of Ku n dalini in the o rgan at

the heart i s fanned into life may only form the
subject of actual occult tra ini ng Nothing ca n .
be said of it openly .
The spi ritual world be comes pla i nly p er

ce p tib l e as composed of objec ts and beings o n ly
for the indiv i dual who in such a way can s end

96 I N I TI ATION AN D ITS RE SULTS
the fire of Kundali n i th rough his e theric body

a n d i n to the outer world so that its objects are
,
illumi n ed by it From this is will be seen that

.
a complete co n scious n ess of a n object in the

spiritual world is entirely depe n de n t upon th e
conditio n that the perso n himself has cast upon
it the spiritual light In reali ty the Ego who
.
,
has draw n forth this fire no lo n ger dwells in

,
the physical human body at all but !as has ,
been already show n ) apart fro m it The o r .
gan at the heart is o n ly the spot where th e i n

dividual from without e n ki n dles that fire I f .
he wished to do this n ot here but elsewhere

, ,
then the spiritual perceptio n s produced by

mea n s of the fire would have n o con n ectio n
with the physical world Yet o n e should re
.
late all the higher spiritu al thi n gs to the phys

’
ical world itself a n d through o n e s self should
,
let th em work i n th e latter The organ at th e.
heart is precisely th e o n e through which th e

higher self makes use of the lower self as his
instrument and whe n ce th e latter is directed .
INI TIATI ON AN D ITS RE S ULTS 97
The feeling which th e developed pers on

now bears toward the things of the spi ritual
world is quite oth er tha n that which is chara c
teri sti c of ordina ry people in relation to the
physical world The latter feel th emse l ves to

.
b e in a certain part of th e world of sen s e and ,
the objec ts th ey perceive are external to th em .
The spi ritually evolved p erson feels h i mself to

b e united with the sp i ri tual objects th at b e p er
c eives as if indeed he were within th em
, , , In .
spiritual space he veritably moves from pla ce

to place and is th erefore spoke n of in th e l an
,
”
guage of occult science as the wa n derer H e
“
.
i s p ractically witho ut a home S hould he con

.
ti nn e in this mere wandering he would b e nu

,
able to define cl ea rly any object i n Spir i tual

s p a ce ! ust as one defi n es an object or a local
.
ity i n p hysical Space by starti n g from a c ertain

point so mu s t i t also be in regard to the other
,
world He mu s t seek for a p l ace there whi ch

.
he practic ally completely explores a place — ,
o f whi c h he spi r i tually takes po ss essi on This .

he mu s t make his spiritual home and s et eve ry

th ing i n relation to it The person who is liv
.
ing i n the physical world sees everything i n a

like ma n ner as if he c arried the ideas of his
,
physical home wherever he went I nvo l u n .
tari l y a man from B erlin will describe L ondon
qu i te otherwise than a Parisia n O nly th ere is.
a di fference between the spiritual and the

p hysical home Into
. th e latter you a re born
without your own co Operatio n and from i t in
-
,
youth you have acqui red a n um ber of idea s

wh ich will henceforth i nvoluntarily give color
to everything The spiritual home o n the con
.
,
t r ary you have formed for yours elf with full

,
consciousnes s You therefore shape your

.
Opinion s when going out from it in the ful l ,
u nprejudiced light of freedom This forma.
tion of a spiritual home is known in the speech

“ ”
of o c cult science as th e building of the hut .
The Spiritual outlook at th is point extends

at first to the spiritual counterparts of the
phys i cal world so far a s these lie in what we
,
I NI TIA TI ON AND I TS RESULTS 99
ca ll astral world I n this world is fou nd

th e .
everything which i n its n ature is akin to huma n
i m p ulse feeli n g desire or p assion For i n

, , ,
.
every s e n se object that surrounds a person

-
th ere are forces which are related to the se

human forces A crystal for instance is
.
, ,
formed by powe rs which whe n seen from the ,
higher standpoint are perceptible as akin to

,
th e im p ulse whi ch acts in the human being .
By similar forces the sap is drawn through the

vess e l s of the p l ant the blos soms unfold the
, ,
s eed ca ses are made to burs t All thes e powers

-
.
a c quire form a n d color for the deve l ope d

Spi ritual perceptions just a s th e obje c ts of th e
,
ph ysical world have color and form for phys

ic al eyes At th e stage of dev elo p ment here
.
d e sc ribed the s tudent no longer sees merel y

the c rys tal or the p l ant but l i kew i se the Spiri
,
tu al forces b ehind them , even as he does not

now see the impu l ses of an i mal or human b e
ing only th rough th eir external man i fe s tations ,
b ut also dire c tly as v er i ta b l e objects as in the ,

p hysical world he ca n see chai rs and tables .
The enti re world of i ns tinct i m pulse wish or, ,
passion whether of a person or of an ani m al

, ,
is there i n the astral cloud in the aura with ,
which th e subject is enwrapt .
Bes i des this the clai rvoya n t at this stage

,
of his evolution perceives things that are ai

most o r entirely with drawn from the percep
tions of sen s e For example he can observe
.
,
the astral di fference be tween a place which is

for the most part filled with persons of low de
vel Op m en t and another which is inhabited by
high minded people I n a hospital it is not

-
.
o n ly the physical but also the astral atmos

p h e re which is other tha n that of the ball
room A co m mercial town has a di fferent as
.
tral air from th at of a universi ty town At .
first the p owers of perce i ving such thi n gs wil l

be but weak in th e person who has beco m e
clai rvoyant At first it will seem to b e con
.
nected w i th th e objects concerned v ery much ,
as i s the dream conscious n e s s of th e ordinary

-
102 A
I N I TI TI ON AND ITS RE S ULTS
is present the correspond i ng i mage would only

,
make a very faint appearance I t first comes .
into its full power after the death of a pe rson ,
whe n the soul according to i ts nature con

, ,
ti nu es to foster such desires but ca n not any

,
lo n ger satisfy the m becau s e th e object and i ts

own physical organs are b oth lacking Thu s .
the gourmet will still have the desire to ti ckle

his palate ; but the possibility of satisfaction is
a bsent since he no longer posse s ses a palate
, .
As a result of th is the desire is displayed as an

exceptionally powerful image b y which the
soul i s torm ented These expe riences after
.
death among the images of the lower soul na -
“ ”
ture are known as the period in Kamalo k a ,
that is to say in the region of desire They

,
.
only vanish away when th e soul has cleansed

itself from all appetites which are directed to
wards the physi c al world Then does th e s oul
.
mou n t up i nto a loftier region whi ch is ca l led

“
Devachan Although these images are thus
weak i n the person who is yet alive they still ,
A
I NI TI TI ON AN D I TS RE SULTS 103
exist and follow him as his own envi ronment

in Kamaloka just as the comet is followed by
,
its tail and th ey can be seen by the clairvoyant

,
who has arr ived at th is stage of development .
Among su c h experiences and all that are

akin to th em th e occult student liv e s i n th e
world that has b een descri b ed He cannot as

.
yet bring hims elf into tou c h with still loftier

Spi ritual adventures . Fro m this p o i nt he must
climb u pward s till h i gher .
IV
THE TH REE S TATE S OF CON
S C I O US N E S S
The l i fe of ma n is pas sed i n th ree states ,
which are as follows : Wak i ng, dre am i ng

sleep and dream l ess deep slee p One may
, .
com p rehend h ow to a ttain to a high er knowl

edge of th e Sp i ritual worlds by fo rm i ng an
idea of the changes in the condition s that have
to be undergone by the as p irant to s uch
knowledge . Before a pers on h as pas s ed
through the necessa ry training h i s conscious
,
ness is continually broken by th e periods o f

re s t which acco m pany sl eep During these
.
periods the s oul kno ws nothing of th e outer

world and nothi n g eith er of its e l f O n ly at
.
certain ti mes above the wide ocea n of u ncon

sci o u sness th ere will arise dreams which are
related to events i n the outside world or to the

104
106 I N I TI ATI ON AND ITS RE SULTS
fa c ts but he who li m its his perceptions to the
, I
se nses alone ca n not pe n etrate into causes To .
the occult student s uch causes are partly re

vealed in the state already described as b eing
evolved out of his dre am existence To be -
.
sure he ought n ot to regard these revelations

,
as actual knowledge so long as the same th ings

do n ot reveal the mselves to him during ordi
n ary waki n g life as well But to that he also
.
atta ins He acquires the power to enter the

.
state which he had firs t evolved from his

dream life d uring the hours of waking con
-
sc i ou sness Then the phenomenal world is en

.
riched for h i m by s ometh ing quite new ! ust .
as a pe rson wh o though born b lind undergoes

, ,
an operation on his sight and finds everything

i n his environment enriched by the new testi
mony of visu al perceptio n so does the p erson ,
who has b e come clairvoyant in the above man

n er regard the entire world around h i m, p er
,
ce ivi ng in i t new c h ara c teristi c s new b e i ngs , ,
and new things N 0 longer is it neces sary th at

.
I NI TI ATI ON AND ITS RE SULTS 107
he sh ou l d wait fo r a d ream in order that he

may live in ano ther worl d for he can transport
,
hims elf into the state of higher perception at

any su i ta b le time . This condition or state has
an importance for him co m parable to that of
per ception with open eyes as opposed to a
b lindfold state One can say quite literally
.
th at th e occult student opens the eyes of his soul

and sees th ings which must ever remai n veiled
from the bodily senses .
Th is state !which has previously b e en de

sc r i bed in detail ) only forms the b ridge to a
sti ll higher stage of occult knowledge I f the .
exercises which are assigned to him Should be

continued th e student will discover at the ap
,
p pro ri a te time that the vigorous changes hi th

e rto mentioned a ffect not o n ly hi s dream life -
,
b ut th at the transformation extends even to

what was before a deep and d ream less slee p .
He notices that the u tter unconsciousness in

which he has always found himself dur i ng th i s
s leep is now broken by conscious isolated ex
IN ITI ATION AND I TS RE S ULTS
p e ri e nc es
.Out of the great darknes s of sleep
a ri s e perceptions of a kind which he had neve r
known before Naturally it is no easy matter

.
to describe these percept ions for our language

,
is only adapted to the pheno m enal world and ,
i n co n seque n ce it is only possible to find ap

p roximate words to describe what does not
appertai n to th at world at all S till one has
.
,
to make use of th ese words i n describing the

h igher worlds and this can only be do ne by
,
the free use of simile ; yet seei n g that eve ry

,
thing i n the world is i n terrelated such an at

tempt can be made The things a n d beings of
.
th e higher worlds are a n yway so distantly con

nec ted with those of the phe n omenal world
th at th ough in good faith a portrayal of these

h i gher worlds in the wor ds usually descriptive
of th e phenomenal world may be attempted ,
one must always retain the idea that ve ry much
i n descriptions of this ki n d m ust obviously p ar
take o f the nature of simile and i m age ry C c .
c ult education itself is only partially carried

that of th es e two faculties that of sight remain s
the higher even in the spiritual worlds C ol .
o rs are there sti l l high er tha n sounds or words ,
b ut the s tudent at th e b egin n i n g of hi s devel

Op m ent does not perceive these higher color s ,
b ut merely the inferior sou n ds Only b ec au se .
th e i n div i dual after his ge n eral developm ent

, ,
is already qualified for the world which re

veals itself to h im in dreaming slee p does he
s traightway perceive its colors b ut he is sti l l ,
unqualified for the higher world whi ch is

ki ndled in deep sleep and in consequen ce this
,
world reveals itself to him at first as sound s

an d words ; later on he ca n mount up h ere a s ,
elsewh ere to the perc eption of colors and

,
form s .
I f the student now realizes that h e pa ss e s

th rough s uch experiences in deep sleep h is ,
n ext task is to make them as clea r and v ivi d as .
p os s i ble I n th e b eginning thi s i s ve ry diffi

.
c ult for rememb ran c e dur i ng th e wa k in g state

,
i s at firs t extraord i narily sc anty Yo u know .

A
I NI TI TI ON AND I TS RE S ULTS 11]
well on waki n g that you have experienced

something ; but as to i ts n ature you rema i n
completely in obscurity The most impo rtant
.
th ing dur i ng the begi n ni n g of this state is th at

you s hould remai n peaceful and compo s ed ,
and should not allow yourself eve n for a mo
,
ment to lapse into any unrest or impatien ce

, .
Under all ci rcu m sta n ces the latter condit i on

is i n jurious I t can n ever accelerate a n y fur
.
th er development b ut i n every case must de

,
lay i t You must aba n do n yourself calmly a s

.
,
it were , to what is give n to you : all violen ce

mu s t be rep ressed I f at any period you can
.
not re c all th ese experiences during th e dee p

sl ee p you should wait patiently until i t b e
,
comes possible to do so for such a moment

,
will certainly some day arrive I f you hav e.
previously been pati ent and cal m th e facul ty ,
of remembran c e when i t comes will be a se

, ,
cu rer possession ; while should it for once ap

,
pear, perhaps l n answer to for c ible method s ,
i t would only m ean th at fo r a muc h longe r

112 A
I N I TI TI ON A N D I TS RES ULTS
period it would afterwards remain enti rely
lost .
If th e power of remembrance has on c e ap

p e a r e d and the exper i en c e s of s l ee p e merge
c omp l ete v ivid and cl ear b efore th e waki ng
, ,
con s ciousness attention should th en be d i

,
rec ted to what here follows Amo n g these ex

.
p e r i enc es we c an c l early distinguish tw o k i nd s .
Th e fi rst kind is totally foreign to everyth ing

th at one has ever experie n ced At first one .
may take pleasure i n these may let oneself ,
b e exalted by them ; but after a while they

are put aside They are th e first harbingers
.
o f a higher spiritual world to which o n e only
b ecomes accustomed at a later period The .
other k ind of experiences however wi l l reveal

, ,
to the attentive o bserver a peculiar relation

sh ip to the ordinary world in which h e lives .
Concerning those eleme n ts of life o n wh ich he

ponders those things in his env i ronment whic h
,
h e would like to understand b ut is unab le to ,
understand wi th th e ordinary intelle c t, these

114 I N I TI ATI ON AN D I TS RE SULTS
world of sense The things and b eings of the
.
ph eno menal world are show n thereby to be

more than merely what th ey seem to the per
ce p t i ons of th e se n ses They are the expres
.
s i on and the effl u x of a spiritu al world This .
spiritu al world which lay hitherto obs c ure

now reveals itself to the occult student in the
whole of his envi ronment .
It is easy to see that the possession of th i s

p erceptive facul ty can o n ly prove i tself to be
a blessi n g if the soul senses of th e person in
-
whom th ey have been opened are in perfect

order just as we can o n ly use our ordina ry
,
senses for the accurate observatio n of th e

world if they are in a well re g ulated co n dition
-
.
Now th ese higher senses are formed by the l n

dividual himself in accordance with exercises
which are given to him in the cours e of his o c
cult training As much concerning th ese ex
.
e rc i ses as may be openly said has been already
given in Th e Way o f I n i tia ti o n The rest is

.
imparted by word of mouth in th e occult

IN ITI ATION AN D I TS RE SULTS 115
schools Among these exercises we find c on

.
ce n tratio n or the di recti n g of attention upon

,
certain definite ideas and conceptions th at are

con n ected with the secrets of the universe ; a n d
meditation or the living withi n such ideas the
, ,
complete submerging of o n eself withi n them

i n the man n er already explai n ed By con cen .
t rati on and meditatio n a pe rson works upo n
his own soul a n d develops withi n it the soul

organs of perceptio n Wh ile he applies him
.
self to the practice of meditatio n a n d conc on

t rat i on his soul evolves withi n his body as the
emb ryo child grows i n the body of the mother .
Whe n during sleep the specific experien c es

, ,
above described begi n to occur the moment of ,
bi rth has arrived for the full grow n soul who -

,
h as th ereby b ec ome literally a new being

b rought by the individual from seed to fruit .
I n s tru c tion s c once rnin g the subj ect of med i ta

tio n a n d con c entration must therefore be very
carefully p repared and equally carefully fol
lowed out si n ce they are the very laws wh ic h
,
determi n e the germinatio n and evoluti on of
the higher soul nature of the indiv i dual ; a n d
-
this must appear at its birth as a harmonious

and well formed organism I f o n the co n
-
.
,
t ra ry there were somethi n g lacki n g i n these

,
i n structio n s n o such bei n g would appear but

, ,
i n its place o n e that was misborn from the

sta n dpoi n t of spi ritual matters a n d i n capable ,
of life .
That the bi rth of this higher soul n ature -
should occur duri n g deep sleep will not seem

hard of comprehe n sion if we consider that the
tender organism still u n able to withstand
,
much oppositio n could hardly make itself no

,
ticed by a cha n ce ap p arI tI o n am o n g the pow

e r fu l harsh eve n ts of workaday life
,
I ts ac .
tivity ca nn ot be observed wh en opposed by th e

activity of the body I n sleep however when .
, ,
the body is at rest th e activi ty of the highe r

,
soul at first so fai n t a n d u n appare n t ca n come

, ,
i n to sight i n so far as it depends upo n the per

cep ti on of se n se A warni n g must here again
.
The occult student must practi c e c ontinually
the strictest self co n trol The right method is
-
.
to grow clearer a n d clearer in one s realizatio n ’
of the separate and veritable experiences

which occur a n d the n to wait for the arrival
,
of n ew experiences full and unforced in their

,
n ature which will con n ect themselves as if

, ,
on thei r own accou n t with those th at have al

,
ready occurred By virtue o i the power of

.
the Spiritual world i n which he has n ow once

fou n d his way a n d by virtue also of p ractic
, , ,
i n g the pres c ribed exercises the student now ,
experie n ces an ever e n largi ng ever more com

-
,
p rehensive outspreadi n g of consciousness in

,
deep sleep Out of what was erstwhil e m e re

.
u n consciousness more and more experiences

,
emerge and ever fewer a n d fewer become

,
those periods in the sleep existence th at remain

-
u n conscious Thus then do the separate ex

.
, ,
p e ri en ces of sleep continua l l y c lose in upon

each other without this actual interlocking b e
ing disturbed by a multitude of combinations
I N ITI ATION AND ITS RE SULTS 119
and i n fere n ces which would still arise from

the meddli n g of the i n tellect accustomed to
th e phe n omenal world The less one s ordi ’
.
nary habits o i thought are m ixed up i n some

unauthorized m a nn er with these high er exp e
ri en ces th e better it is
,
.
I f you conduct yourself rightly you n ow ,
approach n earer a n d n earer to that stage of

the way at which the e n tire sleep life is p assed -
i n complete co n scious n ess The n you exist, .
when the body is at rest i n a reality as actual as

,
is the case while you are awake It is super .
fluo n s to remark that duri n g sleep we are deal

ing at first with a reality e n tirely di fferent
, ,
from the phenomenal envi ronment i n which

the body finds itself I n deed we learn n ay
.
— ,
must learn if we are to keep our footi n g o n

firm ground a n d avoid becomi n g a fantastic
to relate the higher experien c es of sleep to the
phe n omenal environment At first however .
, ,
the world which is entered in sleep is a com

p l e tel y new revelation In occult
. science t h e
120 I N I TI ATION AN D ITS RE SULTS
important stage at which cons ci ousness is re
tai ned interiorly th rough the enti re sleep life -
“ ”
i s known as th e continui ty of cons c iou s ness .
I n th e case of a perso n who has arrived at

this point experiences and events do not cease
,
during the i n tervals whe n the physical body

rests and n o impressions are conveyed to the
,
soul through the medium of the sen ses .
1
Th at whi ch is here r e ferred to i s, at a certain st ag e o f
”
p
d evel o men t, a k i nd of
“
i deal , th e g o al wh ich l i es at t he en d
of a l ong r oa d . The n ext t hin g s t ha t th e stu den t l ear ns a re
tw o exten sion s o f con scio u sn ess —firs t , into a s o ul state

-
wher e
in hitherto n othing b ut un reg u lated d rea ms were pos sible , an d,
secon d ly , into anoth er stat e wherei n hithert o n oth ing wa s p o s

s ibl e e xce pt un con sci ou sn ess and d re aml es s p
s l ee . He th en
k no w s the three st at es , ev en i f it remai n s im possibl e fo r him

to re fuse en tirely all trib ute to th e o rd inary stat e o f s lee p .
in this latter c ase experience continues duri n g

,
sleep The soul is th en veritably in full ac

.
tivi ty but we ca n not k n ow of these perso n al

,
activities as lo n g as we have n o higher se n ses ,
by m ea n s of which we may observe duri n g ,
sleep what happe n s arou n d us a n d wha t we do

,
ourselves just as well as we can use our ordi

,
n ary senses i n daily life for th e obse rvation of

our physical envi ro n me n t Occult trai n i n g .
co n sists !as has bee n show n i n the foregoi n g

chapters ) i n the upbuildi n g of just such higher
senses .
By m eans of examples like that which fol

lows o n e can readily conc eive how the soul
with its finer vehicles may conti n ue its activi ty
duri n g the intervals whe n the physical body is
at rest It is no mere n ursery tale which will
.
here be told but a real case from life which

, ,
was observed with all th e means possessed by

th e clairvoya n t investigator a n d with all th e
care which it is i n cu m bent upo n him to cxc r

IN I TIATI ON AN D I TS RESULTS 123
cise ; nor is it related as a p roof but merely ,

‘
as a n illustratio n .
A you n g m an stood co n fro n ted by a n exam i

nation which would p robably decide his e n ti re
future life For a lo n g time p reviously he had
.
,
worked for it assiduously a n d co n seque n tly , ,
o n the eve n i n g before the examinatio n was ,
exceedingly tired He was to appear before .
the exami n ers punctually at eight i n the m orn

i n g of the following day He wa n ted to have .
a n ight s restful sleep before the trial but he

’
,
feared lest o n account of his exhaustion he

, ,
1 I t has been n ece ssary to mak e th is p reambl e , s ince the

p
s u erstit iou s fo ll o wers of mate ria l is m , as s oon as they hea r
o f a ny such st ory , i mmediat el y r es pon d b y d ecl aring that t hes e
cas es p rove n othing They whittl e a way eve ryt hing o f the k in d
.
as th e r es ul t o f d el usi o n a n d ina ccu r ate ob serv a tion To th em .
it sho ul d he re ma rk e d , b y way o f re ply , that the cl airvo y an t
inv estig ato r d o es n o t req u i r e s uch in d i rect p ro o fs ; he a tt a ins

t o a d i rect k nowl edg e b y mean s of the h ig h er s ig ht . Nev e r
thel ess , fact s of the k in d relat e d a o
b ve s erv e t o i l l us t rat e wh at
i s mean t . To e stabl i sh t hei r t r uth othe r mean s e xi st t ha n t h o s e
which mat eri al i stic l ea rn in g wil l u se in th e unim p eachabl e ex
po sition o i a m a tte r o f o rd inary fact .

migh t n ot be able to wake hims elf at the right
hour He therefore took the p re c aution to
.
arrange that a pe rson livi n g in the next room

should wake him at six o cloc k by knocki n g at ’
his door Thus he was able to abandon him

.
self to slee p with an easy mind On th e fol .
lowi n g day he awo ke not at the c all of his ,
neighbor b ut out of a dream He heard six

, .
sharp rifle reports a n d with th e sixth he was

-
,
—
awak e H i s watch e quipped wi th n o ala rum
.
— s tood at six o clock He dres sed himself

’
.
,
a n d after half a n hour his nei ghbor kn ocked

him up In reality it was only just then six
.
,
’
o clock for his watch by some ac ci dent had
, , ,
gai n ed half an hour in the n ight The dream .
which awakened him had timed its elf to th e

erro n eous watch What was it th en which .
, ,
h appe n ed here ? The soul of th e young man

’
had rema i ned active even during h i s sleep .
B ec ause he had p revious ly form ed a c onnec

tion between this activity of soul and th e watch
at his side , there had remained a c onne c tio n
126 I N I TI ATI ON A N D I TS RE SULTS
through the physical se n ses during the contin ,
n ance of the waking consciousness H ad the .
young man in the above example been a clair

voya n t h e would have been able to watch the
,
time for h imself during sleep and in conse ,
q u e n ce to have awakened himself I t is n eces .
sary to state here th at the perc epti on of the

ordinary p h enomenal environment p resu p
poses one o f the higher stages of c la i rvoya n ce .
At the begin n i n g of his development at this

stage th e student only perceives th i ngs wh i ch
,
pe rtai n to a n other world with out being abl e

,
to discern their relation to the objects of his

wo rkaday surroundings .
That wh ich is illustrated in such typical ex

— —
amples of dream o r slee p l i fe is repeatedly
experie n ced by people The soul l ives on u n
.
i n termittently in the higher worlds and is ao

tive w i thi n them Out of th ose h igher worl ds
.
it c ontinual l y d raws the suggestions upon

which it works when again i n the ph ysical
body while the ordinary ma n remains u ncon
,
I NI TI ATI ON A N D I TS RE S ULTS 127
scious of this higher life It is the wo rk of.
the occult stude n t to make it c onsciou s a n d ,
by so doi n g his life becomes tra n sform ed S o .
l on g as the soul has n ot the higher sight it is ‘
guided by foreig n age n cies a n d just as the life

,
of a bli n d m a n to whom sight is given by an

operatio n beco m es quite di fferent fro m wh at
it was before so that he ca n he n ceforth dis
,
pe n se with a g uide thus also does the life of

,
a person cha n ge u n der the influence of occult

trai n i n g He too is now ab ando n ed by his
.
, ,
guide and must henceforward guide himself .
As soon as this occurs h e is of course liable to, ,
errors of which his wak ing co n scious n ess had

no co n ceptio n He n ow deals with a world i n
.
which hitherto a n d u n known to himself he

, ,
had been i n flue n ced by higher powers These .
higher powers are re g ulated by the great uni

versal h armony It is from this harmo ny that
.
the student emerges He has now to accom

.
p l i sh for himself thi n gs whi ch were h ith e r to
done for him without his co operati on -

.
I N I TI ATI ON AND I TS RE S ULTS
Because th is is the c as e there will b e mu ch

said in the treatises which deal with such
things concerning the dangers whi ch are con
necte d with an asce n t i n to the higher world s .
The descriptions of these dangers whic h h ave

sometimes been given are very apt to make
timid souls regard this high er life only with
horror It should here be said that th ese ex
.
p e r i e n c e s o n ly oc c ur if the ne c essary rules of

prude n ce are n eglected O n the other hand
.
,
if everythi n g which a ge n ui n e occult edu c a

tio n imparts as cou n sel were here given as a
warn i n g i t would be m a n ifest that the as cent
,
is through experiences which i n magn itude as ,
i n form surp ass everything that has been

,
painted by the boldest fa n cy of an o rdinary

person ; yet it is not reaso n able to talk of pos
sible injury to health or life Th e stude n t .
lear n s to re c ogn ize horrible threateni n g form s

that hau n t every corn er a n d c ranny of life I t .
is even possible for him to mak e use of such

powers and bei n gs who are withdrawn from
130 I N I TI ATION A N D I TS RE SULTS
—
er world i i he cannot wait until he acqui res a
really mature i n sight into superphysical laws .
” “
In th i s sphere the words hum i l i ty and mod
”
esty are still less empty than in ordinary l i fe .
I f these in th e very best sen se are the att ri

, ,
~
butes of the student he may be sure that h is

,
a s cent i nto the higher life may be achieved

without any danger to what one u s ually means
by health and life Above all thin g s it is need
.
ful that there should b e no disharmony be

tween these higher experience s and the even ts
’
and demands of every day life The Student s
-
.
task th roughout is to search on earth and he ,
who tri es to withdraw from the sacred tasks

of this earth a n d to escape i n to another world
may be sure that he n ever reaches h is goal .
Yet what the senses behold is o n ly a part of th e

world and in spiritual regio n s lie the causes
,
of what are facts in the phenomenal world .
One should participate in the things of the

’
spirit in order to carry o n e s revelations i n to
the world of the sense s M an transforms the
.
A
INI TI TION AND ITS RE SU T LS 31
earth by implanting in it that which he has

,
discovered in the Spiritu al world and that is ,
h i s task Yet because the earth i s dependent

.
,
Upon the s piritual world — because we can only

be truly e ffective on earth if we have part in
those worlds wherein lie concealed the creative
—
force s w e ought to be willi n g to ascend into
th ose region s If a person enters on a course
.
of occult trai n ing with this se n timent, a n d if

he neve r deviates for a moment from the d i rec
tions already given he has n ot even th e most
,
i n significant of dangers to fear N 0 o n e ought

.
to hold back from occult education on account

of the dangers that confront him ; rather
s h ould the very prospect form a powerful in
ducem ent toward the acquisition of those qual
ities wh i c h mu s t b e possessed by the genuine
occult student .
After these prelim i nari e s whi c h ough t cer

,
t ainl y to dispel all foreb odings let u s now de

,
“ ”
scribe one o f th ese dangers I t is t ru e th at
.
very considerable c h anges are undergone by

132 I N I TI ATION A N D I TS RE SULTS
the fine r bodies of the occult s tudent Th ese .
changes are co n nected with certain evolu ti on

ary events which happe n within the th ree
—
fundamental forces of the soul th e will the ,
feelings and th e thoughts A s regards th e oc

,
.
cult training of a person these th ree forc es

s tand in a definite relation regulated by the ,
laws of the highe r world He does no t wi l l .

,
nor think nor feel in an arbitrary manner I f

, ,
.
,
for example a particular idea aris es I n his

,
m i nd then in accordance with natural l aws a

, , ,
certain feel i ng i s attach ed to it o r el s e i t is ,
followed by a resolution of th e wil l th at i s l i ke

w i se connected with i t accord i ng to law You .
enter a room find it to be stu ffy and o p en the

, ,
wi ndow You hear your name called and fol

.
,
low the call You are questioned and you an

.
swer You pe rceive an ill smelling object and

.
-
you ex p erience a feeli ng of disgu s t Th es e are .
simple connections between th ough t feeling , ,
and wi ll I f h owever the student su rveys hu

.
, ,
man lif e he will ob s erve that everyth i ng i n i t

,
134 A
I NI TI TI ON AND I TS RE S ULTS
phys i ca l bo dy Th ere too the organs o f vo

.
, ,
l i tio n stand in a ce rtain orderly relation to

those of th inki ng and feeling A definite .
th ought regularly evokes a feel i ng o r a voli

’
tion I n the course of a person s higher d e
.
vel op m en t the th reads which connect the se
th ree principles with each other are severed .
At first this rupture occurs only in regard to

the finer orga n ism of the soul ; but at a still
higher sta g e the separation extends also to the
physical body I n the higher Spi ritu al evol u
.
tion of a perso n his b rain actually div i des i n to

three separated parts The separation indeed
.
, ,
is of such a nature that i t is n ot perc eptible to

ordinary se n se observation nor could it be de
-
,
tec te d by the keenest physical instruments Yet .
it occurs a n d the clairvoyant has mea n s of Oh

,
servi n g it The b rain of the higher cl ai rvoy

.
ant divides i n to th ree indepe n de n t active en

tities : the thought brain the feeling brain and
-
,
-
,
the willing brain -

.
Th e orga n s of thinki n g feeli n g a n d willi n g

, ,
IN I TI ATI ON AN D I TS RE SULTS 135
remain the n quite free in themselves and

, , ,
the i r con n ection is no longer maintained by a

law innate in them but must now be tended
,
by the growing higher conscious n ess of the i a

divid ual This then is the change which the
.
, ,
occult student observes coming over hi m self

that there i s no longer a co n nectio n betwee n a
thought a n d a feeling or a feeli n g and a voli
,
tio n except when h e creates the co nn e c tion

,
hi m self No impulse drives hi m from thought

.
to actio n if he does n ot voluntarily harbor it .
He can now stand co m pletely without feeling

before an objec t which before his train i ng
, ,
would h ave filled hi m with glowing love or

viole n t hatred ; he can likewise re m ai n action
less b efore a thought which heretofore would
have spurred hi m o n to action as if by itself .
He can execute deeds by an e ffort of will

where not the remotest cause would be v i s i ble
to a person wh o h ad n ot been through th e oc
cult s c hoo l Th e greatest acquisiti o n which
.
the o c cu l t stu dent i n h erits is the attai n ment of

136 I NI TIATION AND I TS RES ULTS
comp l ete lords hip over the co n necting threads
o f the th ree powers of the soul ; yet si m ultan
eou sl y these conne c tions are placed e n tirely at
h i s own responsibili ty .
Only th rough such alterations in his natu re

c an a person come i n to conscious touch with
c ertain superphysical powers a n d entities For .
between his own soul a n d certain fu n damental

forces of the world there are correspo n dences
or lin ks The power for i n sta n ce which lies
.
, ,
i n the will can act upon and perceive parti en

, ,
l ar thi n gs and e n tities of the higher world but ,
it ca n o n ly do so when dissociated from the

th reads that li n k it with the feeli n gs and
thoughts o f the soul As soon as this separa
.
tio n is e ffected the activities of the will can b e

ma n ifested and so is it likewise with the forces
,
of thought a n d feeling I f a person sen ds out

.
a feeling of hatred it is visible to th e cl ai rvoy

,
ant as a thin cloud of light of a special h ue and ,
the clai rvoyant can ward o ff such a feeling ,
just as an ordi n ary person wards o ff a p hysi c al

138 I N I TIA TI ON AN D I TS RE SULTS
operation of the s ep a rate force s would supply .
For as a rule the three human principl es at

, ,
any given p e riod of life are not sym m etrically

developed I n one the power of thought is ad
.
van ced beyo n d those of feeling and will ; in a
seco n d a n other power has the upper hand over

,
its co m pa n io n s S o long as the co nn e c tion b e

.
—
tw ee n these forces a connection p roduced by
the laws of th e higher world — remai n s intact ,
no injurious irregulari ty i n the higher se n se

, ,
can result from the p redomina n ce of one force

or another In a perso n of will power for in
.
-
,
stance thought a n d feeli n g work by those laws

,
to equalize all and to p revent the over weighty -
will from falli n g i nto a kind of degeneratio n .
I f such a person however should take up an

, ,
occult traini n g the law given influence of

,
-
thought a n d feeling upon the mo n strous un ,
checked opp ressive will would e n tirely cease

,
.
If then the in dividual has no t carried his con

, ,
trol of the higher co n sc i ousness so far that he

ca n call up the desirable harm ony for hims elf ,
IN ITIATI ON AND ITS RES ULTS 139
th e wil l continues on i ts own unb ri d led way

a n d repeatedly overpowe rs i ts p o s s essor .
Thought and feeling lapse i nto c omplete de

b i l i ty ; and the individual i s whipp ed like a
slave by his own overmastering will A vio .
le n t n ature which rushes from o n e uncurbed

actio n to anoth er is the re s ult .
A second deviation ensues i f feel i ng sh ake s

o ff its app opriate br i dle in th e same extrem e
r
man n er A person who bows in adoration b e
.
fore a n other may easily give himself over to

an unlimited dependen ce u n til his own ,
thought a n d will are ruined I n place of the

.
higher knowledge a pitiful vacui ty and feeb l e

ness would become the lot of such a person .
Again i n a case where feel i ng largely p rep o n

,
derates a nature too much give n o ver to pie ty

,
and religious aspiration may laps e i nto re

l i g io u s extrav ga n c e th at carries him away
a .
The third evil is found where though t i s too

promin ent for th e n th ere may resul t a con
,
temp l at ive n atu re i n imical to life and s hu t

140 I NI TI ATION AND ITS n s U LTS
wi thi n i tself . To s u ch persons the wo rl d

ly on
a ppears to h ave any significance so fa r as it
o fi e rs th em o bjects fo r the satisfaction o f their
l imi tl es s th i rst for wisdom They are never

.
impelled by a thought e i th e r to a feeling or

to a de e d . They are seen at once to be cold ,
u n feeling folk They fly away from eve ry con

.
tact with the things of ordinary life as f ro m

something that sti n gs them to aversion or that ,
at least ha s lost all meani n g for them .
These are the three ways of error against

which the occult student should be counselled
over action excess of feeli n g and a cold u n
-
, , ,
loving struggle after wisdom V iewed from .
—
withou t as also from the materialistic medi
—
cal standpoint the picture of an occult stu
de n t upon o n e o f these byways does not gre atly
di ffer !espec ially i n degree ) from th at of a
madman or at least of a perso n su ffering from
,
severe nervous ill n ess From all this it will be

.
clear how importa n t it is to occult education

‘
that the th ree principles of the sou l sho u ld

14 2 I N I TI ATI ON A N D I TS RE S ULTS
u l ated a c cording to com mon unive rsal laws ,
a lways works duri n g the waking hours towards

restori n g the disturbed equilibrium of the soul .
That is why it is so essential that the waki n g

life of a n occult student should in eve ry t e
spect be healthy and systematic The more he .
fulfils the de m a n d which is made by the ex

ternal world upo n a sound a n d powerful type
of body soul a n d spirit the better it is for
, , ,
him O n the other hand it may be very b ad

.
,
for him if his ordi n ary waking life acts so as

to excite or irritate hi m ; if a n y disturbi n g or
h i n de ri ii g influence from the external life oc
curs duri n g the great changes that are un der
go n e by his inner n ature He should Seek for
.
everything which correspo n ds to hi s powers

a n d faculties everythin g that puts him in an
,
u n distu rbed harmo n ious co nn ectio n with his

enviro n ment He should avoid everyth i ng
.
which upse ts this harmo ny everythi n g that ,
bri n gs unrest and fever into his life Regard .
i n g th is it is n ot so m uch a matter of remov

,
I N I TI ATION AND I TS RE SULTS 143
i ng this u n rest or fever in a n external sense as ,
of taking care that the moods p urposes , ,
thoughts and bodily health do not thereby u n

,
d erg o a continual fluctuatio n Dur i ng his oc .
cult training all th is is not so easy for a p e r

so n to accomplish as it was before since the ,
higher experiences which are n ow interwove n

,
with his life react uni n terruptedly upon his

,
e n tire existe n ce I f somethi n g in th ese higher

.
experie n ces is n ot in its place the irregularity ,
lurks perpetu ally a n d is liable to throw him o ff

the right path at every turn For this reason .
the student Should omit nothi n g wh ich will

secure for him a lasting control over h i s enti re
nature nor should presence of mind and a
, ,
peaceful s urvey of all possible Situations i n

life eve r b e allowed to desert him A genuine .
oc c ult train i ng i n deed itself engenders a ll

, ,
these attributes and in th e course of suc h t rai n

,
ing one only learn s to know th es e dange rs at

the p rec is e moment wh en o n e ac qu i re s the fu ll
powe r to rou t them from the field .

VI
TH E FI RS T G UA RDIAN OF THE
TH RE S HO L D
Am o n g the i m porta n t experien c es that ac
co m pany an asce n t i n to the higher worlds is
that of Meeting with the Guardian of the
”
Threshold . I n reality there is not o n ly one
“
such Guard i an , but two ; one k nown as the
” ”
“
L esser the other as the Greater
,
Th e stu
.
dent m eets with the fo rmer when in the man

,
ner described in the last chapter he begins to

,
loosen th e conne c tion between the volitions , the

thoughts and the feelings so far as they con
,
cern the etheric and astral bodies The meet

.
i n g with the Greater Guardian occurs wh en

this loosening of the li n ks further extend s to
th e physi c al body !that is to say the brain )
, .
The L esser Guardi an of the Threshold is an

144
14 6 I NI TIA TION A N D I TS RESULTS
reward your evil actio n s th ei r d i sastro us re
,
su l ts Through their i n fluence your characte r

.
fo rmed itself out of your experiences an d your

thoughts They were the instrume n ts of you r
.
fate I t was they that ordered the measu re of

.
joy and pain which was meted out to you i n

any one of your i n car n atio n s accordi n g to your ,
conduct i n earlier lives They ruled you by .
the all bindi n g law of Karma Now they shall

-
.
free you fro m a part of their c onstraint a n d a ,
portion of that which they have a c co mplished

for you must you now acco m plish for yourself .
I n the past you have borne many hard blows

from Fate Did you not know where fore ?
.
Each was the e ffect of a pernicious d eed i n a

life gone b y You fou n d joy and glad n es s and
.
,
you partook of them Th ey, too , were the .
fruits of earlier deeds I n your character you

.
have many beautiful qualitie s many ugly ,
flaws ; and b oth of th ese you have woven for

yoursel f out of you r byg one experie n ces and
though ts Till n ow you did not know o f this ;
.
I N I TI ATION A N D I TS RE S ULTS 147
only th e e fi ects were revealed to you B ut th ey, .
th e Ka rmic Powers beheld all the deeds o f

,
your former lives all your obscure though ts

,
a n d feeli n gs ; a n d thus have th ey determi n ed

what you n ow are and the ma n ner i n whi c h
you n ow live .
“
B ut th e hour has come whe n all the good
a n d the evil aspects of your bygo n e lives shall
be laid ope n before you Till now they were .
i n terwove n with your whole being ; they we re

i n you and you could not s ee them ev en as
, ,
with physical eyes you cannot see your own

physical brai n Now however they detach
.
, ,
th emselves from you ; th ey emerge from your

personali ty They assum e an independent
.
form whi ch you can observe eve n as you ob ,
serve the sto n es a n d flowers of th e extern al

—
world And I I am that very being which
.
h as found for itself a body wrought of you r

n obl e and your i gnoble deed s My s pe c tral .
"
robe is woven ac cord i ng to the e ntrie s i n you r

’
l i fe s l ed g er H i th e rto you h ave bo rne me in
.
vi s i b ly wi th in yourself yet i t was we ll fo r you

,
that this should be for the wisdom o f th e des

,
tiny which was hidde n e ven from yo u rself has

th erefore worked hitherto toward the ext i n
g u i s hi n g of the hideous stai n s that were upo n

my fo rm Now that I have emerged th at h i d
.
,
den wisdom also departs from you I t will .
henceforth trouble itself no more con c e rning

you I t will now leave the work in your h a n ds
.
alone I t is for me to become a complete an d

.
sple n did bei n g if I am not i n deed to fall into

, , ,
decay If this the latt er should oc c ur the n

.
, , ,
.
should I drag you also dow n i n to a dark a n d

rui n ed worl d If yo u would avoid th i s the n
.
,
let your own wisdom become so great th at it

c an take over to itself the task of th at oth er
wisdom which was hidde n from you , a n d is
now departe d When you h ave passed my
.
th resho ld I shall n eve r leave your s ide for a

si ngl e m o m ent From he n ceforth , when you
.
do or th in k anyth i n g th at is evil you w i ll ,
straigh tway d i s c e rn you r gui l t as a h ideous ,

150 I N I TI ATION A N D I TS RE S U LTS
H ith e rto I have o n ly emerged from your
p e rsonality whe n Death recalled you from an
e arthly life , but eve n th en my fo rm was veiled
from you . Only the powers of desti n y who

watched over you could behold m e a n d they ,
were able i n accordance with m y appeara n ce

, ,
to build in you during the interval betw een

,
death and a n ew birth all that power a n d that

,
c apa c i ty wherewith in a n ew terrestrial exist

e n ce you could labour at the glorifyi n g of my
fo rm for the assura n ce of your progress It .
was on account of my imperfecti on i n deed , ,
that the powers of desti n y were driven again

and again to lead you back into a new inc am a
ti on upon earth I f you died I was yet there ;
.
,
a n d according to me did the L ords of Ka rma

fashion the mann er of your re birth -
.
“
Only when th rough a n e n dless p roces s ion
of l ives you have brought me to perfection
Shall you no lo n ger descend amo n g th e powers
of death but havi n g u n ited yourself ab so

, ,
I N I TI ATION A N D I TS RES ULTS 151
l u tel ywith me you shall pass over with me

,
“
i n to im m ortali ty .
“
Thus do I Sta n d before you here to day -
visible as I have always stood i n visible beside

,
you i n the hour of dea th Whe n you shall .
have passed my th reshold you will e n ter those

kingdoms which else would have opened to
you o n ly at physical death You will e n ter .
them with full k n owledge a n d he n ceforth , ,
whe n you wa n der outwar d ly visible upo n the

earth you will also move through the ki n gdom
,
of death which is the ki n gdom of etern al life

,
.
I am i n deed the angel of Death ; yet at the

same time I am the bri n ger of a n imperishable
higher life Through me you will die while
.
Still livi n g i n your body to be rebor n into a n

,
immortal ex i ste nc e .
“
The kingdom that you n ow enter will i a
trod u ce you to bei n gs of a superhuman ki n d ,
a n d in th at ki n gdom happi n ess w i ll be your

lot But the first acquaintan ce to b e m ad e i n
.
th at world must be myself I th at am your own ,

152 IN I TIATI ON AN D I TS RE SULTS
creation Erstwh ile I lived up on yo ur life,
.
but n ow through you I have g rown to a sep

arate existence and he re stand befo re you as
the visible gauge o f you r future d eeds p er ,
haps too as your con sta nt re pro ach You were

, , .
able to fo rm me , but I n so doing ou h ave taken

y
up the du ty of transfo rming m e .
What h as been h e re presented I n a narrative

form one m ust not imagine to b e merely some
thing allegori c al but realize th at it is an ex
,
p e r i ence of the stu d e nt whi c h is in t h e hi g h est

degree ac tu al The Gua rdi an wi ll warn h im
‘
.
1 I t wil l b e divin ed from the above th at the Gu ardian of the

Th resho l d the re describ ed i s an ! ast ral ) fo rm , s uch as is re
vealed to th e awak ened hig her sig ht o f the occul t st u dent, an d
meeti ng
“ "
it i s to this s up erp hy sica l that occult s ci ence con
‘
ducts . I t is one o f per forman ces to mak e
the l ess er mag ical
the Guardi an o f the Thresho l d visibl e o n the phy sical p l an e
al so To mak e thi s p os sibl e i t is necessary to p ro duce a cl ou d

.
of smok e, cons i sting o f th e s ubstances, b y mean s o f some
frank incen se whi ch i s comp osed o f a n umbe r o f ing redi ent s

in a particul ar commixture . The devel op e d power of the ma
g i ci an i s t h en abl e to moul d th e smok e i nto s hap e an d to an i
mate its b
s u s t ance with the sti l l unbal anc ed Ka rma of the i a
154 I N ITI ATION AN D I TS RE S ULTS
meeting really feel his power to be so increased
that he ca n take it upo n himself to e ffect with
full realization the glorifyi n g of th e Guardia n .
A result of this meeti n g with the Guardia n

of the Th reshold if suc c essful is th at the next
, ,
physical death of th e student i s an event en

t i rel y di fferent from what death was before .
He co n sciously goes through the death where

by he lays aside the physical body as he lays ,
aside an outworn garme n t or one that is grown

—
useless o n account of a sudde n re n t This his .
—
physical death is now only an important fact ,
as it were to th ose who have lived with him

, ,
whose p recep ti o ns are Still restricte d to the

world of the senses For them the occult stu
.
“
de n t dies but for himself nothing o f import
,
a n ce in his whole environment is changed The .
e n tire superphysi c al world into whi ch he step s

already stood Open to him before death a n d it ,
is the sam e world th at after death confronts

him .
Now th e Guard i a n of the Threshold is also

,
A
I NI TI TI ON AN D ITS RE SULTS 155
co nn ected with other matters The individual .
belo n gs to a family a natio n a ra c e His deeds

, , .
i n this world depe n d upon his relatio n ship to

th is greater unit H is i n dividual character is
.
likewise co nn ected with it The co n scious

‘
deeds of a si n gle perso n are by n o m ea n s the

sum of all he must reckon with i n respect of
his family stock nat i o n a n d race There is a
, , , .
desti n y as th ere is a character pertai n i n g to

, ,
th e family or the race or the n atio n For the .
person who is restricted to his senses these

th ings remai n as ge n eral ideas and the mate ,
ri al i sti c th i n ker will regard th e occult scie n tist
contemptuously whe n he hears that for the

latter the family or n ational character th e ,
lineal or rac ial destiny becomes just as real a

,
bei n g as the personality which is produced by

th e character a n d destiny of the i nd i vidual .
The occultist comes to know of hi gher wo rlds

i n which the separated personaliti es are d i s
cerned as mem bers li ke the a rms legs and
, , ,
head of a n ind iv i dual ; and i n the life of a

156 I N I TI ATION AND I TS RE U TSS L
family, of a nati on , o r a race he sees at work

,
not only the separate i nd i viduals, but also the

very real souls of the !family n ation or ra ce , , .
I ndeed i n a certain sense th e separate indi

, ,
vi d u al s are only the execut i v e o rgans of this
family or racial spirit I n t ruth o n e ca n say

.
,
that the soul o f a nation for example makes

, ,
use of an i n dividual belongi n g to that n ation ,
for the execution of certai n deeds The na .
t i o nal soul does not descend to sensible reali ty ,
It dwells i n higher worlds and i n o rder to

,
work in th e physical world makes use of the

physical organs of a particular p e rson In a .
higher sense it i s as when an architect makes

use of a workm an for executing th e d etails of
a building Eve ry perso n gets h is work as
.
sig ned him i n the truest sense of th e wo rds by

, ,
the soul of th e family, the n ati o n, o r the race .
Now the o rdinary p e rson is b y no means i ni

ti s te d into the hi ghe r s ch eme of his work H e .
works un c onsciously towa rd the goal of the

nation o r rac e F rom the m o ment whe n the
.
158 I NITI ATION A N D I TS RE SULTS
“
m any peo pl e wh o wo u l d say Oh ! I h ave en ,
ti rely freed m yself f rom all l i neal or racial
connections ; I o n ly want to be man and n oth

i ng but ma n To these one must reply Who
.
, ,
th en b rought you to this freedom ? Was it n ot

,
your family wh o gave you that position i n the

world wh ere you n ow Sta n d ? Was it n ot your
ancest ry your nation your race that have
, , ,
made you wh at you are ? They have brough t

you up ; and i f you are now exalted above al l
prejudi c es if you are o n e of th e light bringers
,
-
and benefactors of your cl an o r even of your ,
race you owe th at to their education I ndeed

,
.
,
‘
when you say of yourself that you are noth i n g
as a perso n you owe th e ve ry fact that you
’
,
have so become to th e spirit of your commun

”
ity. Only the occult student learns what it
mea n s to be cut o fi entirely from the family ,
the clan or the rac ial spirit H e alone real i zes

,
. .
th e insi g ni fi cance of all such education in re

spect of the life which n ow c o n fro n ts him for ,
everythi n g that has gath ered arou n d him falls

A
I NI TI TI ON A ND I TS RE S ULTS 159
utterly away whe n the th re ads that bi n d the

will the thoughts and the feeli n gs are sun
, ,
dered He looks back o n all the events of h i s

.
prev iou s e ducati o n as o n e must regard a house

of which the stones have falle n apart i n pieces
and which o n e must therefore build up agai n
i n a n ew form .
It is more th a n merely a figure of speech to

say that after th e Guardia n of the Threshold
has uttered his first communi c ations th ere ,
rises up from the place where he stands a gre at

whirlwi n d which exti n guishes all those lights
,
of the spi rit which had hitherto i llumined th e

pathway of life At the same ti me an utter
.
b lackness engulfs the s tudent I t i s o n l y broken

.
a little by the rays that Stream forth from the

Guardian of the Threshold a n d out of that ,
“
darkn ess resound his last admoniti ons S tep-
not across my th reshold before you are a s sured

th at you can illumi n ate th e bl ackness by your
se l f : ta ke not a s i ngl e step forwa rd un l ess you
are c ertai n th at you h av e a su ffi ci ency o f o i l
160 I N I TI ATION AN D I TS RES ULTS
i n your lam p The l am ps of the g u i des wh ich
.
hith e rto you h ave followed wi ll now, in th e

”
future be absent
,
After these wo rd s th e stu
.
d ent h as to turn ro und and d i re ct hi s gaz e

b ackward The Guardian of th e Th reshold
.
now draws away a veil that before had hidde n
deep secrets The li n eal the natio n al the

.
, ,
racial Spiri ts are revealed in their complete

reali ty a n d the Stude n t n ow sees clearly how
,
he had bee n guid e d so far but it also dawn s ,
upon him th at hen cefo rth he will have no such

guidance This is a second warning received
.
at the threshold fro m its guardia n .
N 0 one can attain to this v isio n unpre p ared ;

but th e higher traini n g which generally makes
,
it possible for a person to p ress on to the

threshold pu ts him S imulta neously in a posi
,
tion to find at the righ t moment the neces sa ry

power I n deed this training is of so ha rmoni
.
,
ous a kind that the e n trance into the new life

,
can be made to lose its exciting and tu multuous

character The exp e rience at the threshold is
. ,
VI I
TH E S E COND G UA RDIAN OF TH E
TH RE S HO L D
LI FE AN D DEATH
It has al ready been Show n how im p ortant
for the i n dividual is the m eeti n g with the so
called L esser Guardia n of the Threshold b e ,
cause he then becomes aware o i a su p e rp hysi

cal being which he has hi mself created The .
body of this being is co n structed out of th e

— —
results hitherto imperceptible to him o f his
actions feeli n gs a n d thoughts It is these i n
, ,
.
v isible forces that have becom e th e cause of

his destiny a n d his character It is then clear
.
to the individual that in the past he himself

laid the grou n d pla n s for the p resent H is
-
.
natu re now stands rev ealed to a certain extent

, ,
before him For i n sta n ce it co m prises p artic

.
,
162
I N ITI ATION AND ITS RE SULTS 163
ular i n cli n ations a n d habits He ca n now un

.
derstan d why he has them He has met with

.
certain blows of fate ; he now knows whence

they came He p erceives why he loves one and
.
hates another ; why he is m ade happy by this

and un h appy by that B y m ea n s of the invisi
.
b l e causes the visible life is made c om p reh en

sible The esse n tial facts of life too such as
.
, ,
illness and health death and birth unveil

, ,
t hemselves before his gaze He observes how

.
h e had woven before his birth the causes which

necessitated his retur n to life From thence .
forth he k nows that being with in himself whic h

is constructed in the visible world after an im
perfect manner a n d which ca n o n ly be brough t
,
to pe rfectio n in the same visible world ; for i n

no other world is th ere the op p ortuni ty of
working at the upbuilding of that be i ng Fur .
ther than this he sees how d eath cannot sever

,
him lasti ngly from th i s world For he should .
say to h i mself : Onc e I c am e for the fi rst ti me

“
to th i s world becau se I was a be i ng th at n eed ed

th e here liv ed in o rder to evolve th ose at
l i fe
tributes wh ich could not be developed in any
other wo rl d Here must I remain until I h ave
.
evolve d in myself wh ateve r can h e re b e at

t a i n ed I shall only become at some far o fl
.
,
-
ti me a fit worker i n a n other world if I h ave

,
developed i n the ph e nomen al world al l the

”
qualities which pertain to it .
Among the most important exp eriences of

the Initiate is that which occu rs when h e first
learns to know and to cherish the visible world
at its tru e valu e ; and this knowledge comes to
him by his ve ry insight into the superphys ic al
world H e who cannot see there a n d who con
.
sequently imagines that the sup erp h ys ical

worlds a re infinitely the more valuable is like ,
l y to und e r estimate the worth of th e p h eno m e

-
nal world He however who h as had that

.
, ,
insi ght into the superphysical worlds wel l

knows that without hi s e xperiences in
th e vis i ble he would b e totally p owe rl ess
in th e invisible I f he would really live i n
‘
.
16 6 A
I NI TI TI ON AN D I TS RE SULTS
When th e oc cult s tudent ente rs the su p er
physical world life assumes quite a new mean
,
ing to him fo r i n th e world of sen s e h e dis

,
cern s the seed grou n d of a high er world ; so

-
“ ”
that i n a certain se n se this higher will seem
”
very defective without the lower Two out .
looks are opened before hi m : the fi rs t i nto the

Past ; the second i n to the Future .
He looks into a past wh en this v i s ib l e world

was n ot L ong ago had he outgrown the fa n cy
.
that the superphysical world had developed

itself out of the se n se world He wel l k nows
-
.
that the superphysical was th e firs t, and that

out of it everyth ing phenomenal has been
evolved He sees how he hi m self b efore he
.
,
cam e for the first time to this phenomenal

world belonged to a wor l d superi or to the
,
sen s es Yet this the pristi n e superp h ysica l

.
,
world needed to pass through the physical

,
.
Without such a passage i ts further evolution

would not have bee n possible O nl y when th e
.
b eings of the phenomena l world have deve l

INI TIATION AN D ITS RESULTS 167
O p ed w i th i n themselves th e faculti es th at cor

respo n d to that world can the supersensual
b ei n gs again move onward These bei n g are
.
no other tha n men and wome n They have .
arisen as th ey now live from an i m perfect

, ,
stage of sp i ritual existe n ce a n d m ust i n thei r

,
ow n i n ner n ature bri n g about its co m pletio n ,
whereby they will the n be fit for further work

I n th e higher world . Thus begi n s the outlook
into the future I t poi n ts to a higher stage
.
in the supersensua l world In th is will appear

.
the fruits which have been matured i n the

world of sense Th e latter as such will be
.
, ,
superseded but its experie n ces w i ll be incor

,
p o r a te d i n to a higher spher e .
Thus is revealed the r a is o n d e tr e of illness

’
a n d death i n the world of s ense Death is n oth

.
i n g else than a sign that the form er su p e r p hysi

c al world had arr i ved at a p oi n t from which
i t could not make a ny furth er progress by i t

self I t would necessari ly have had to under
.
go a u n iversal death if it had n ot received a

168 I NI TIA TION AND ITS RES ULTS
new l i fe im p uls e and the new life has thus
-
,
come down to battle with unive rsal dea th Out .
of the rem n ants of a world decaying a n d chilly ,
blosso ms the seed of a new world Th at is why .
we have death and life i n the world S lowl y .
thi n gs pass over into each other The decay .
ing portio n of the old world still ad h eres to

the seeds of the new life which i n deed arose
,
out of it The fullest exp ression of this may b e

.
fou n d amo n g human beings M an be ars as a .
coveri n g that which he has gathered abo ut him

in the old world and within this cove ring is
,
fo rmed the germ of that being which in the

future will have lif e H e is therefore of a
.
double n ature mortal and immortal I n his

,
.
e n ding s tate he is morta l ; i n his begi n ning state

im m ortal ; but it is only within this twofold
world which finds i ts expression i n the ph ys i
,
cal th at he ca n acquire those faculties which

,
will co n duct him to the u n dyi n g world I n .
deed h is task is precisely to draw out of th e

,
mortal the fruits of th e immortal I f he .

170 I N I TIATI ON AND ITS RE S UL TS
il lnes s is nothing else than the e ffect o f that
”
p o rtion of the past whi ch is d eclining .
In all that has h e re been said we find an

“
an swer to th e question Why is it that only
,
l i ttle by little and through e rror and i m p erfec

tion may ma n work his way up to the good
”
an d t rue ? At first his actions feelings and
, ,
thoughts are under the dominion of the fading

an d the mortal . From th is are shaped h is
p hysical organs and therefore these organs
, ,
an d the forces which act o n them are co nse ,
crated to the perishable Th e instinc ts im

.
,
pulses and passions or the orga n s which b e

, ,
lo n g to them do n ot themselves ma n ifest the

,
imperis h able but rather will that which

,
emerges from the work of th ese organs become

imperishable O n ly wh en man has worked
.
out of the perishable ev eryth i ng that is to b e

worked out will he rid himself of thes e prin
,
c i p l es from which he has grown and whi c h
fi n d their expression in the p h ys ically per ce p

tible world .
I NI TI ATI ON AN D I TS RESULTS 171
Th us then th e first Gu ard i an of the Th res

, ,
h ol d stan d s as the re p lica of the indivi d ual in

his double na tu re where i n are mi n gled th e
,
perishable and the imperish abl e ; and it is then

made clear to him how much he lacks before
he ca n attai n t he sublime form of ligh t which
may once more inhabit th e p ure spiri tual
world .
Th e de gre e i n wh ic h he is enmeshed in the

physical sens e n ature will be Shown to the stu
-
dent by the Guardian of the Th reshold Thi s .
e nta n gleme n t is ex p ressed by the existence of
insti n cts impulses appetites egotistical de

, , ,
sires all fo rms of selfishness and so forth I t

, ,
.
is also expressed i n the con n ection wi th a race ,
a natio n and so on ; for n ations and races are

,
only so many d i fi e ren t evoluti onary stages up

to the pure humanity A race or a natio n
.
sta n ds so much the high er the more completely

,
i t gives exp ression to i ts kinship with the type

o f pure and ideal humani ty the m o re i t has
,
worked th rough the p hys i c al and pe ris hable

172 mI Tn TION AND ITS I I ULTS
to th e s u pe r p hys ic al and impe rish ab l e The .
ev olution of the i n div idual by me ans of rein

c ar n ati on i n ever higher national a n d racial
fo rms is therefore a p rocess of liberation Ul .
tim at el y the i n dividual will appear i n his har
mo u l o n s perfection I n a si m ilar way the pil

.
gri m age through ever p urer moral a n d relig

ious co n ceptio n s is a perfecting process Eve ry .
moral stage for i n sta n ce still retai n s beside

, , ,
th e idealistic germ of the future a passio n for ,
the perishable .
Now in th e Guardian of the Threshold ,
above described o n ly the result of time that

,
has passed away is m a n ife sted a n d in the germ

,
of the future is o n ly that which ha s b een inter

wove n with it i n this bygo n e time Yet it is for.
th e i n dividual to bri n g i n to the superphysical

world o f the futu re everything that he c an
draw forth from the world of the senses If he .
should o n ly b ri n g that which comi n g from,
the past is co mm i n g led with his cou n te rpart

, ,
he wo u ld o n ly partially have fulfilled h i s

174 A
I NITI TION AND ITS RE SUL TS
met by the second Guard i an of the T h res hold ,
who addresses him as follows :

“
Yo u hav e free d yourse l f from the world of
sense You have won th e right to settle i n the
.
su p e rphysical world From this you ca n n ow

.
work For you r own part you no lo n ger re

.
quire your physical em b odiment I f you .
Shou l d wish to acquire the faculties by which
to dwell in this higher world you no lo n ger

,
need to go back to the world of sense Now .
gaz e at me ! L o l how i m measurably sublime

I stand , above all th at you have at prese n t
evolved out of you rself ! You hav e arrive d at
th e prese n t s tage of your progress towards per
fec ti on through the faculties which you were

able to deve l op i n the sense wor l d while you
-
were still confined to it Now however, must

.
,
a period begin in which your li berated p owe rs
may act yet further upon the worl d of sense .
Hitherto you have but freed yourself but n ow ,
can you go forth as a liberator of all your fel

lows As an individual have you s triven un ti l
.
I N ITI ATION AN D I TS RESULTS 175
to day but now shall you associate yourself

-
,
with th e whole so th at you may bri n g not your

,
self alo n e i n to th e superphysical world but all ,
th i ngs else th at exist i n th e world of phe n om

ena It shall be op e n for you to unite yourself
.
with my form but I cannot be blessed where

,
yet there is a ny one u n redeemed ! As a separate

freed m an you would like to e n ter at once i n to
-
the ki n gdom of th e superphysical but th en ,
would you have perforce to look down o n the

still u n liberated creatures i n the world of se nse,
a n d you would have separated your desti ny
from th eirs Yet you a n d they are all linked
.
with each other It is necessary th at all of you

.
should desce n d i n to the world of sense in order

that you may draw out of it the powers that
are needed for a h i gher world I f you should
.
separate yourself from your fellows you will ,
have m isused the powers which you h ave o n ly

bee n able to deve l op i n common w i th th em .
Had th ey not de s ce n d ed th e des cent h ad be en

,
impossible fo r you ; with out th em you h ad

176 I NI TI ATION AND ITS RESULTS
lacked the powers that make up your sup e r

p hysical existe n ce These powers fo r wh ich
.
y ou h av e strive n together with you r fellows ,
you mus t now i n like ma nn er share with them .
S o lo n g as you fail to apply eve ry o ne of your

acquired powers to the liberatio n of yo u r com
pa n io n s I shall obstruct your entrance i n to the
,
highest regio n s of the superphysi c al wo rld .
With those powers you h ave already wo n yo u ,
can stay i n the lower regions of that world ; but
before the gates of the higher regions I sta nd

as one of the che rubim with fiery swo rd i n
fro n t of Paradise to hinder your e n tra n ce as

,
lo n g as you have powe rs that remai n u n app l ied

to the world of se n se If you refuse to apply
.
your powers i n this way oth ers will come who

,
will do so ; a n d then will a lofty superph ysical

world receive all the fruits of the sen s e wo rld -
,
but to you wi ll be de n ied th e very soil in which

you were rooted The world e n nobled will
.
develop itself beyo n d you and you will b e s hut

,
out therefrom The n would your path b e the

.
178 I N I TI ATION A ND I TS RE S ULTS
ter h is liberatio n from the world of se ns e he
can w i n no n ew powers I f he place s his work
.
at the disposal of th e world he must renounce ,
the p rospect o f acqui ring a nyth i n g further for

himself .
One cannot say that the indi v idual would

naturally choose the white path whe n so called ,
upo n to m ake his decisio n This depe n ds en .
t i re l y upon whether at the time of m aking th e
decisio n he is so exalted that n o todc h of sel fi sh

n ess would make the allurement of such beati
tude appear desirable For these allureme n ts

.
are the stro n gest possible ; while on the oth er ,
side n o specific allurements ex is t Nothi ng

, .
the re evokes his egotism That wh ich h e oh .
tai n s i n th e higher regio n s of th e sup erphysical

is n othi n g that comes to him but s olely s ome ,
—
thi n g which proceeds fr o m hi m th at i s to s ay ,
th e l o v e of his fellows Noth in g th at egotism

.
des i res is den i ed upon the black path On th e .
co n trary the fru i ts of this way cons i st p re

,
c i se l y i n th e complete gratificatio n of ego tis m ,

I NI TI ATION A ND I TS RE S ULTS 179
and th erefo re if a n y o n e merely desires bliss

for h imself , he would certai n ly travel down
that way since it is the app ropriate path for
,
him N 0 on e th erefore sho u ld expect the

.
, ,
occultist o f th e wh ite path to give him inst ru c

tio n concern i ng th e d ev elopme n t of his egotis t
ical self The occultist has n ot th e smallest
.
i n terest in the b e ati fi c atio n of th e i n dividual .
Each ca n attai n that for hi m self It is n ot the .
task of the white occultist to accelerate it He .
is only co n cern ed with the evolutio n a n d liber

atio n of all those bei n gs who are human or akin
to the huma n Therefore th ey give i nst ruc
.
tio n s o n ly as to how o n e may use o n e s powers ’
i n co operatio n with that work C o n seque n tly

-
.
,
th ey place before all oth er attr i butes those of

selfless devotio n a n d self sac ri fice They do
-
.
not actually refuse a ny o n e for eve n the most ,
egotistical c an ennob l e th emselve s ; but h e who

merely seeks s ometh i n g for himself so long as ,
he continues to do so will gai n nothi ng from

the occultist I n deed eve n if the latter did not
.
,
refuse him help he would dep rive himself of
,
the n atural e ffects of th at assistance H e who .
really follows out the i n structions of the good

occult teachers will understand the dema n ds
of the Greater Guardia n after he has c rossed
th e th reshold ; but he who does not foll ow the s e
i n structions cannot hope ever to re a ch the

threshold Their i n structions lead to the good
.
,
or else they are without e ffect at all ; for to

guide us to egotistical beatitude a n d a m ere
existe n ce i n the superphysical world is outside
the circle of their task It is part of thei r duty
.
to hold back th e student from the celestial

world until he can enter it with a will d evo ted
enti rely to selfless l ab our .
TH E W A Y F
I N I TI A T I O N
H OW TO ATTA I N KNOWL E D GE O F TH E
H I GHE R WO RL D S
B y R U D O L F S TE I N E R P h D , . .
I n i t ia te of Ros ic ru c i an Es ote ri c ism
Wi th a Forew o rd b y
A NNI E BE S A NT
An d So me Biog ra p h i ca l No te s of th e A u th o r by
E DOU A RD S CH U RE
1500 P r in ted December , 19 08

1500 P r i n ted Ma y , 19 09
8 000P r i n ted N ovember , 19 00
Boun d i n Cl oth , 210 P ag es . P ri c e

SYNOPS IS OF
The P ersona li ty oi Rud ol f S tei ner a nd hi s Devel op men t . He i s

b ot h a t ru e Occu l t i s t and a tru e My s ti c . Hi s r ea l I ni ti a tor —By .
E doua rd S ch ur e .
I am very ha ppy t o r ecomm end t hi s va l ua bl e wor k t o E ng l i s h

r ea d ers . Dr . S tei ner s vi ews
’
p
d ee l y m y s ti ca l Ch ri s
re r e sen t a p
p
ti a n Th eoso h y a nd a r e o f ver y g r ea t u t ili t y He i s t h e na t ura l .
h ei r t o t h e Ge rm a n m y s t i cs , an d a dd s to th ei r rofou n d s i ri t ua l p p
i t y t h e fi n e l u cidi t y o f a hil oso h i m i nd
c p — p
An ni e B es a n t , P resi .
d en t of Th eosop hi ca l S oci et y .
CHAP TE R I . THE S UP E RFI CIA L WORLD AND I TS GNOSIS .
How ma y we a tt a i n k n owl edg e for our sel v es . All ha ve t he

s a m e ri g h t s , t h e sa m e l i ber t y . Du r i ng t h e ni n ete en t h ce n t ur y
vi liza t i on ha s m oved a l ong ph y si ca l l in es

ci Hi g h er po wer s . are
on l y d evel o p ed o n p l a n es h i g h er t ha n t h e ph y si ca l Ho w ca n . o ne
a t ta i n to su p erp hy si ca l t ru t hs , an d of wha t h el p a re s pi ri tua l

powers .
CHAP TE R II . HOW TO ATTAI N KNOWLE DGE OF THE

HI GHE R WORLDS .
E ver y on e ha s l a ten t fa cu l ti es b y m ea ns of whi ch t h ey ma y ac

q u i r e k n ow l edg e o f t h e Hi g h er Wor l d s Th e d e v el o m e n t o f t.h e s e p
fa cu l ti es . He wh o s tr i ve s ea r n es t l y a ft er hig h er k n o wl e dg e n eed
n ot be a fr a i d of any diffi cu l ty or b
o s t a cl e i n hi s s ea r ch for an
I ni ti a t e who sh a l l be ab l e t o l ea d hi m i n to th e profounder se
CHA P TE R III . THE P ATH OF DI S CIP LES HIP .
How t o di s t i n g ui s h between t h e r ea l a nd unr ea l . Those who

r ea l l y k no w a r e a l wa y s t h e m o s t m od e s t . Ma n a nd s pi rit can be
uni t ed . Wh y
ma n k no ws n o t hi ng o f th o se exp eri en ces w hi ch l ie
b ey o nd t he b o rde r s o f Bi r t h a nd Dea t h How ma y we obtai n .
s u ch k nowl edg e The Occu l t S ci en ce t h e m ea n s of d evel opi ng the

.
s p i ri tua l ears a nd ey es a n d k i ndl ing t he s pi ri tua l si gh t .
CHAP TE R I V . P ROB ATI ON .
The da wni ng of t h e sp i ri t u a l wo rl d , t he ao ca ll ed as tra l

-
p l a n e .
CHAP TE R V . E NLI GHTE NKE NT .
E nli g ht en m ent i s ma t ter of d evel op ing cer tai n feelings a nd

a
t h ou g h t s w hi ch a r e d orm a n t wi t hi n a l l m en b u t mu st b e
a wa k ened Th e i nn er i ll u mi na ti on Th e g old en ru l e o f tr ue Oc
. .
cu l t i sm Wha t we ha ve to d o before we a re in i ti a ted i nto the

.
hi g her m y ster ies .
CHAP TE R VI . I NITIA TI ON .
Th e h igh es t s t a g es i n a n occul t sch oo l of whi ch i t i s p ossi bl e

t o s p ea k i n a boo k Th e I n i t i a t i o n Th e Temp l e o f Hig h er Wis
. .
d om The Th r ee Tri a l s ; Fi re Tria l , Wa ter Tr ial , Ai r Tria l

.
- - -
.
CHAP TE R VII . THE HI GHE R EDUCATI ON OF THE S OUL .
The cu l ture of t he soul a nd s pi ri t .
CHAP TE R VIII . THE CONDITIONS OF DI S CIP LES HIP .
E very one ca n r ece i ve occu l t t ra i ni ng if t he y are wi l l i ng t o

ful fi l l th e cla i m s w hi ch are p u t fo r wa r d b y t he o ccu l t t ea ch e r .
Dr S teiner g i ves no a d vi ce or ma k es n o s ta t eme nt s whi ch a r e

.
n o t b a se d on hi s own p e r so na l exp eri en ce whi ch ma k e s hi s wo r k s
ver va l ua bl e .
A se ri es o f t ho ro u g h ly
les so ns u
p on
practi ce o f wi t h
a c hap t e r devo t ed t o
By 0 HASHNU I IA RA -
ui r m
m t of P er sona l M ag net ism,
q ”“
“
Tb : Roa d t o 8 14m m , P r ac
TIIE OCU
-
L T P UBL IS H IN G
6 7 wa s a s n r 0 s e x 31
. .
CHICAGO, ILL .
CONTE NTS OF P RA CTICA L
YOGA
i nt ro d uct i on . i n wh i c h th e E n gl i s h s t u d en t i s i n t r o
2233 2
1 01
1 ? th e M
y s t i ca l P h i l os Op h i e s of t h e E as t ern
Ch a p t er l —
G i ves D efi n i t i on o f th e E as t e rn e th od s M
f o r , D e v e l op m e n t . a n d t r ea t s u p o n t h e E s s e n t i a l
ua l i nca t i on s f or s u c c es s ; Ra j a Y o ga ve r s u s
t h e Y o ga ; t h e Cu l ti va t i on o f
. o ra l M
t t r i b u t es :
C on t r ol a n d R e gu l a t i o n o f t h e B r ea t h ; P h i l o s o p h y
A
a n d P r a ct i c e o f Y o ga
—Ob
.
O s t a cl e s
m e n t ; t h e C h e l a an d
t h a t i n t e rf e r e wi t h
W
t ta i n
h a t i s R eq u i r e d o f H i m
A
S p ec i a l E xe r c i s e s f o r t h e C h e l a t o A d o t . I n c l u d
i n g D i ff e r e n t M
e t h o d s f o r C o n t r ol l i n t e B r ea t h
Th e F ru i t s o f K a r m a ; t h e P a t h 0 A t t a i n m en t g
v
Th e D i i n e S p i r i t .
—
Ch a p t er 3 H u m a n A
s t r on om y . V a r i ou s N er v e C en
t e rs T ei r O c c u l t I n fl u e n c es D enn e d th e S ea t
!
o f Vi t a i t y ; t h e A i m of t h e Y o i ; How D e s i r e
a n d P a s s i on M a B e D e s t r oy e d ; u ru . t h e O c c u l t
Tea c h e r : B r ea t h ri y
E xe r c i s e s a n d H eal th : P ow e r s
t h e Y o gi a r e S a i to g A
t t a i n ; S p e c i a l D i r e c t i o ns
f o r th e S t u d en t
—Th
.
Ch a d eV a r i et y of P o s t u res U s ed b y t h e
S n aen t o f Y o ga : H o w t o A
t t a i n H a rm o n y ; 8 e
ci al E xe r c i s e s f o r H ea l i n g D i s ea s e s : R e g u l a t o n
of B r ea t h ; W h a t t o D o t o A c q u i r e Oc c u l t P o w e r ;
M et h od s o f L i v i n g
—F
.
Ch e
v
s o u r k i n d s o f To
I n oca t i on a n d h en Wh ey
l a i n ed :
h ou l d b e
MM
et h od s
ade ;
0
M v
i n d S t u ff ; S em i - D i i n e B e i n s g W h o H a ve S u p e r
A
na t u ral P owers : H o w t o B e c o m e b s o r b e d i n th e
E th er ; th e Tru e U n d e r s t a n d i n . g
Ch a
” Th
—
C Th e P r on un c i a t i on of t h e S a c red W o rd
m; e V i b r a t i o n i t S e t s U p ; I t s C om p r e
h en s i ven e s s ; Th e S m b o l o f th e S n r em e D ei t y ;
Th e S u b j ec t i v e W or E t e r na l P r i n c p i es .
—
Ch ap t er 1 L o t u s es o f t h e B od y C on c i s el y D efi n ed
l a i n ed ; th e F o u r t ee n C on t r as S a t wa
an d
Ta ma s . t h e S a h as r ar o r Th e n sa n t P e ta l l o‘ ; i
Lo tus : Th e A r t o f Con t e m p l a t i o n ; N e w Th ou gh t
an d S u g ges t i ons ; F a i th a n d E ne r g y .
C ha p t er C —D ea l s V el y F u l l y wi t h P ers i a n ag io M
t
V a r i o u s E xer c i s e s a r e E xp l a i n ed , an d S p ec i a l A d
d n
e t
’
s Al p h a b e t —
vi ce G i v e n a s t o Ti m e s f o r P ra c t i c e ; t h e S t u
t h e N u m e r i ca l V a l u e o f N a m es
Th e P e r s i a n A
d ep t ; W e a l t h a n d S u c c e s s ; I
w S
n fl
f
u
l
en s
i
~
t
i n g Ab s e n t P e r s o n s : H o t o B e u c c e s s u n
Ma g i c Op e r a ti o n s e t c et c
.
.
t ri e s so s ea t s . P os tp aid
HE HUM
T ANAURA
M a s te r
o t h e rw i s e k n o wn
os i t i o n
to th e
p r i ce .
S u t ure l —
D ea l s w i t h F u n d a m e n t a l S ta te
m e n t s ; D efi n e s t h e H u ma n A u r a i n C ont w
d i s ti n c ti on to P ers o na l
A Ma gn e t i s m ; Th e H u
m an u ra Cl a s s i fi e d ; H o w t o D ev el op an d
U t i l i ze a go o d a n d p o w e r f u l A
u ra ; O va l a n d
V i s u a l Tr e a t m e n t b y S u gges t i o n : Th e S u cc es s
f u l Te l e a t h l e t ; Th e P r a c t i c e o f M e n t a l Tel e
p h ony ; o w Th o u gh t s a r e Tra n s m i t t ed ; A b
s en t M
en t a l H ea l i n g ; T1
3 9 E xe r c i s e wh er e b
t h e A u r a i s D e ve i o e d : 1!)e Th e ra p e u t i c E
f ec t s o f C ol or s — R B l u e. Y el l o w a n d V i o l e t .
m fi —
S p e ci fi c I n t e r e ta t i on s Th e
P h i l o s op h y o f Co l o r a n d i t s i ca n e s ; Th e
H ig h e r Oc t a ve s o f C o l or ; The e ra utle E f
f ec t s of Co l o r D e fi n i t e l y E l u c i d a t ed ; h e S ev en
P r i s m a ti c H u e s a n d t h e i r c o n n ec t i on w i t h t h e
S e ve n V o w e l s . a n d w h a t ea c h V o w el s u g g e s ts ;
Th e Lo we r Oc t a ve s o f C ol or ; Th e W r i n g o f
G e m s . a R eas o na b l e P rac ti ce ; Th e e l l -De
m S —Th e H u m an A u ra as a n I nd i
ca t or o f H ea l t h a n d C h a r a c t e r , w i t h R efl ec
v
t i o n s o n t h e A u r a o f H a b i t a t i o n ; Cl a i r o y a n ce
s u s ce p t i b l e of v
C u l t i a t i o n ; I n h e r e n t G en i u s :
M
A a t er i a l i s t i c Ch r i s t i an i t y ; H e a l t h
v
Th e D i i n e
u ra of B uil d i n g r
A i
H ea l t h : H ow t o P u r f y o n e s
u ra : Th e A u ra o f a Te l e p a t h i s t
’
A u ra :
r e o f A u r i c F o r c e ; Th e S el f
A
D i s s i p at e d u ra : Th e
Tr u e P h i l a n t h rop i s t ; P e r f ec t H a rmony .
By CHARIL S G LELAND
th e m e tho ds
o f de ve l o p i n g an d st ren gt hen
i n g t he l ate n t p o w ers o f t he
mi n d an d th e hi dden fo rces o f
t h e w il l , by a si m p l e , sc i en ti fi c
r ossib l e t o an erson of
p o cess
p y p
o rdi n ar y i n te llige n c e .
CHAP TE R H E AD S
I n tr oduct ion
C h a p t er
W i ll D evelop m en t
F o r e t h o u g ht
W ill an d Cha racter
S u g g es t i on an d I n t eres t
Mem o ry Cult u r e
Th e Co ns t ru cti ve F a cult ies
F a s ci na t io n
S ub lim i na l Self
L a st W o rds
“ Editi on
Pop -l ar va“ h M I l O p ag ss.

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InitiationandItsResults 10423221

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I N I TI A TI O N

Translated From The

CLI FFO RD BA!

The w i despread i n terest take n i n the ﬁrst

a n d its success have en co u r

aged me to place before E n glish readers i n ,

th e prese n t volume a translation of th e arti

c les writte n by Dr S teiner as a sequel to the

above series and originally published i n L u c i

edited by Dr Rudolf S tei n er The same

m agazi n e is now bri n gi n g out a series of ar

will c o n clude these ve ry i m porta n t co m m u

dom When completed I propose to publish

th em as a third volume of this series .

To save disappoi n tme n t to some readers into

me fra n kly state at the outset that n either this

hypothetical accepta n ce of the reali ty of th e

prem ises there exists a vast amou n t of litera

diced m i n d and carefully studied will ,

co n vi n ce them of all that is here postulated .

These volumes m ight be called a dva n c e d

the subject is repelle n t had better n ot read

o f a v ery high order for those really inter

ested i n the subject a n d desirous of advancing

in their self developme n t to a poi n t hitherto

u n attainable by the m si n ce it has n ot until

n ow bee n dee m ed expedie n t openly to publish

The book is i n te n ded for those only who will

ri ﬁ ce a n d u n selﬁsh devotio n to the best inter

ests of ma n ki n d above all other virtues .

O n the other ha n d there is a large n umber

of people deeply i n terested i n the subject

who were under the i m pressio n that there is

i n g, sp ru n g from a Wes te r n source which ,

shows the m that they n eed n ot go beyond Eu

struct those willi n g to fulﬁll the co n ditio n s

There are few leaders of thought at the

able to gather arou n d hi m from 400 to 500

rece n t courses of addresses on the Apocalypse ,

held i n Berlin a n d B ale i n Ch ri sti a n ia a n d

only a few of the cities visited b y th is i n d e fat

students were gathered together fro m all parts

beria and from Fra n ce and S pai n

That we are living at present in a wonder

may be gathered from the fact that a very

highly cultured classes whose predecessors of

but two decades ago would have scoffed at th e

I n co n clusio n I should like to d raw a tten

tio n to the close a n d wo n de rful relatio n which

I N ITIATION a n d the mea n s of vivi ﬁ cation of

we are satisﬁed that there is a widespread de

teachi ngs of Theosophy as e n unci ated by D r .

S tei ner and we shall t ry gradually to make

accessible to E n glish readers all the m ore im

For those who are fully satisﬁ ed with the

n ot i n te n ded but it is earn estly hoped that it

may bri n g L ight a n d Pea c e to serious seekers

Translated fro m t he Germ an by C li fford Bax

ing a perso n either instructio n or counsel will

will occur to hi m who seeks for the higher

We shall co n sider here so m e of these effec ts

he who is cognizant of what is now to be said

the superphysical worlds I n deed o ne may .